Rise, Son Of Rome
by Young Napoleon22
Summary: After Naruto makes a discovery on a diplomatic mission to Wave country, he begins to question his current place in life. Then, after being banished for "roughly handling" Sasuke in the retrieval mission, Naruto sets off to bring honor to his ancestors and rebuild the Roman Empire...and no one is going to stand in his way.
1. Chapter 1

**Rise, Son Of Rome**

**Ch.1**

(A/N: I'm a huge fan of Naruto as well as Spartacus. My favorite season of Spartacus is War Of The Damned because it involves one of my favorite historical figures: Julius Caesar, and had him played spectacularly by his actor; Todd Lasance. When I saw that he had blond hair and blue eyes I got the idea for this story, so if you haven't seen that season of the series I suggest watching it so you get a better feel for what I'm going to be turning Naruto into: A cunning, silver-tongued, battle-savvy, leader who will stumble in the beginning but grow to become an unstoppable force.

I don't know if I actually have to say this but: I don't own either Naruto or Spartacus. Please leave constructive reviews.)

**xxxxx**

It was a pleasantly beautiful day in the Land of Fire, and like every nice(and even not so nice) day, there was a mission being undertaken by ninja's from the Hidden Leaf village. There were four ninja in total on this mission. The oldest, and commander of this group, was a woman of exceptional beauty. She was dressed in a red, mesh-armor blouse with what seemed to be white medical tape over-top of it. The blouse had only one sleeve on the right side, and her arms and legs were wrapped in white medical tape. Her black,unruly, shoulder-length hair was kept out of her eyes by her hitai-ate which allowed others to see her unusual, but still beautiful, red eyes. This ninja's name was Kurenai Yuhi, Jounin and genjutsu specialist of Konoha.

"How much loooongeeer!?" A young female voice rang out, shattering the peace and quiet of the forest.

Kurenai looked over at the young girl and had to hold back a laugh at her fellow kunoichi's tone. "We're almost there Ino, just another hour or so and we'll be at the bridge to Wave country."

Ino Yamanaka was the second member of this unusual quartet. She was a fair-skinned girl with shoulder-length, platinum-blonde hair that was tied back in a ponytail, however a single bang stuck out and shadowed one of her deep, blue eyes. She wore a purple, vest-like blouse with a raised collar that stopped above her belly button. She also wore a purple, apron-skirt with slits down the sides. Her stomach and legs were wrapped in white medical tape while her arms were sheathed in purple and white elbow warmers. Her hitai-ate was worn like a belt.

"But I'm getting bored Sensei, I still don't see why we couldn't just run there." Ino stated before crossing her arms and pouting.

This brought a tired sigh to Kurenai's lips, but before she could voice the reasoning behind her decision AGAIN, the third member of their squad spoke out. "W-we're walking b-because this is just a diplomatic v-visit to Wave country Ino, and t-there's no real rush to complete it o-okay?"

"That's right Hinata, there's no actual hurry to complete this mission so we're taking it slow and giving ourselves time to relax." With that being said Kurenai turned to her surrogate younger sister and smiled, happy that at least one member of the team paid attention to her instructions.

Hinata Hyuga was the third member of this team. She had short, dark-blue hair in a hime-cut style and two chin-length strands framing her face. Her skin was the fairest of all three kunoichi on the team and held an almost ethereal glow to it. She was dressed in a baggy, cream-colored coat with fur lining the waist. She also wore plum colored pants that reached to below her knees. Her most prominent feature were her eyes. Like her commanding officer they too were an unusual color. They were lavender, like a set of pearls. This was because she came from the Hyuga clan, which was home to the famous bloodline the Byakugan. Her hitai-ate was worn around her neck.

"Well of course Hinata has no problem taking her time," Ino began in a teasing tone of voice, "she'd do ANYTHING to make this mission last as looong as possible hahaha." Ino giggled quietly behind her hand at Hinata's mortified look. She couldn't believe her friend would be so careless with her secret. Especially with said secret walking just twenty steps ahead of them. Hinata quickly looked ahead of her, and then sighed in relief when she saw that her not-so-secret love had remained in deep thought and hadn't heard Ino's teasing.

This fourth and final member of the team was the lone male of the squad; his name was Naruto Uzumaki. This young boy had a head of wild, spiky blond hair and a pair of deep, ocean-blue eyes. His hair was also kept out of his eyes by his hitai-ate. He wore an orange jumpsuit, with blue trim around the shoulders and waist, and a raised collar. His most prominent feature known to most were his six whisker marks; three on each cheek. Right now Naruto had his arms crossed behind his head and his eyes turned to the sky in deep thought. Ever since the Hokage had assigned this mission the young Uzumaki had felt a sense of...anxiousness? He had a feeling that this trip would lead to something life changing for him and, quite possibly, even the Elemental Nations themselves.

He had no idea just how right he was.

Like Kurenai said, they arrived at the bridge within the hour and were greeted by a shocking discovery. The bridge was a magnificent structure, a true testament to mans ability to sculpt something out of seemingly nothing. It's size alone baffled the three kunoichi's minds, but add to it the archways that had been built across the tops at 50 yard intervals, and were managing to keep themselves from collapsing under their own weight despite the distance between the left and right sides of the bridge. The Great Naruto Bridge was a masterpiece.

Naruto, who had been present for the bridges completion, wasn't blown away by its splendor, but WAS shocked when he noticed the new additions to the bridge. There, on either side of the entrance, stood two generously sized statues of Naruto. The statues depicted the young blonde with his arms crossed in front of his chest and a cocky smirk on his lips, the same smirk he gave when he'd battled Zabuza the first time around. The likeness was uncanny, almost as if the statues were about to breathe life and step off their pedestals; which Naruto realized had an engraving on them, in language he'd never seen before.

It read "Vicimus".

Once the other three members of his diplomatic envoy were able to draw their eyes away from the site of the bridge, they were once again stunned at the site of the statues that greeted all who passed by this way. One member in particular's shock swiftly turned to joy.

Hinata had been left in awe of The Great Naruto Bridge. When she'd first learned that her Naruto-kun had gotten a bridge named after him she'd been so proud of him, as well as elated that there was an entire country that recognized what a special person her love was. And now, that she got to see the bridge in person, she felt her heart swell once again with pride and happiness for her Naruto-kun. When she finally managed to pull her eyes away from the bridge, and was about to congratulate him on his tremendous accomplishment, she noticed that he was staring at something. A statue of himself.

Hinata once again marveled at the people of Waves crafting ability, but before she could lose herself in the beauty of the work, she heard Naruto say the word 'Vicimus' in a curious tone. Deciding to, hopefully, score some points with him Hinata answered Naruto's unspoken question.

"V-vicimus means 'victory is ours', Naruto-kun. Y-your having t-trouble reading and u-understanding it because it's in a d-different language; L-latin to be exact."

"Latin? How come I've never heard of it before?" Naruto asked curiously. He hoped it wasn't one of the lessons he was forced to miss due to teachers kicking him out of class, he didn't want to look stupid in front of either Hinata or Ino. After the the incident at the hospital, when he brought Tsunade back to heal Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei, Naruto's feelings for Sakura had begun to lose their intensity.

He was looking to other girls to find a love interest and these two girls were at the top of his list.

He'd always considered Ino to be a beautiful girl, more so than Sakura if he were being true to himself, she could be just as smart as her at times too. Hinata was a girl he'd never really noticed at the academy, but that didn't mean he didn't know she existed. He knew she was just as smart as Sakura and she was also the nicest person he'd ever met. She had a way about her, something Naruto had been noticing the past month, that just made him want to hold her close to him and not let go. He chalked it up to her, admittedly, adorable innocence and partial naivety.

Thankfully, his fears were quickly laid to rest.

"Come to think of it, I've never heard of it either Hinata, how come you know about this language but we don't?" Ino asked in surprise. Hinata, now with three sets of eyes on her, with the inclusion of her sensei, began to feel the heat rise in her cheeks and her hands subconsciously coming up to push her index fingers together out of habit,

"W-well, Ino-chan, the r-reason I know about it is b-because as daughter to the head of the Hyuga clan I'm supposed t-to be well versed in a-all things, including h-history. I learned about w-what the world was like b-before ninjas existed and learned that m-many people spoke the language of L-latin for a time before it d-died out."

All three of her companions were impressed with the young girls ability to memorize the many things she was tasked with learning, and then being able to just pull that knowledge out at random. It was an invaluable skill for a ninja to have.

"Thanks Hinata, I wasn't sure if they'd covered that in the academy or not, now I don't feel as dumb, knowing that it was something most people don't know. You must be smart to be able to remember all of the things those tutors you had taught you." Naruto exclaimed with gratitude that turned to impressed awe near the end.

Naruto's compliment caused the young heiress to duck her head so as not to show off her reddening face. Luckily, Hinata was saved from a possible fainting spell by her sensei,

"Yes thank you Hinata, now if we're all done asking questions lets continue on to the town and find a place to stay for the trip, then, we'll begin conducting our business." And with that the quartet began it's trek towards the village. But with every step he took, Naruto could feel the knot in his stomach grow tighter and tighter, and all he could think was:

_'Why do I get the feeling that after this trip, nothing will ever be the same?'_

oo0oo

It didn't take them long to make it across the bridge and into the village, and once there they made it a point to find a place to stay for there trip.

As they waked through the town the females of the team noticed all the different looks Naruto seemed to be getting. They ranged from pleasant smiles to flirtatious looks; these Hinata didn't appreciate and the young Uzumaki seemed oblivious too. Just as they had found a suitable hotel to stay in they heard a voice call out to them: "Hey Naruto, is that you?"

At the sound of his name the blond turned his head and was met with the sight of Tazuna, the master bridge builder. "Hey old man, whoa, what's with the nice clothes?"

Naruto had noticed that Tazuna was dressed in a fairly nice, royal-purple Pallium draped over pristine, white robes. "Hahah, Naruto my boy, it's great to see you again. As for the clothes, they were given to me after I was elected as a member of our senate."

Naruto threw a confused look at the man and asked, "What's a senate?" Before Tazuna could answer Hinata once again stepped forward with her knowledge of ancient times.

"T-The senate is much like o-our government Naruto-kun, they oversee the r-rules and regulations of the land they govern."

Tazuna looked to the young Hyuga with a gleam of respect in his eye as he rebutted: "It's nice to meet someone with knowledge of the ancient customs; but you're only partially correct. The senate technically has no official say in how the city-state or country is run, that's actually left up to the Councils, we just get to give advice." Naruto nodded his head in understanding before asking:

"Did they have a Hokage then too? I mean, since they seemed to have a multilevel government like us did they have a single leader at the top of it all?" This time it was Tazuna who spoke first.

"As a matter of fact, there were times where the senate would grant a single man the title of Dictator and give him, essentially, total control over the city. In fact, this reminds me of what I was searching for you for, Naruto." Before Naruto could ask why he was being sought out, his fellow blond decided to voice her displeasure at being forced to stay on her feet, after being promised time to rest.

"Yeah, yeah ,yeah, can the two of you wait until we all get a chance to settle down before continuing this _fascinating _conversation? I'm tired!" It was after this that the fourth, and leader of their little group, decided that her young charge was correct.

"Ino makes a valid point Naruto, you'll have all the time you want on this mission to ask Tazuna questions, for now the rest of us would like to relax after that long walk." Naruto balked at this.

"But Kurenai-sensei, YOU were the one who said that walking here would be relaxing for us, why are you complaining about being tired now?"

Kurenai felt the heat crawling up her neck at the genin's true words and thought, '_Damn it Kakashi, you told me that Naruto was oblivious, so what's with this?_' Quickly trying to save face, the Jounin quickly cleared her throat before speaking.

"Ahem, well, Naruto, I was speaking for Hinata and Ino's sakes. They're probably sore from all the walking and wish to sit down at the very least, don't you think?" Naruto's eyes gained a disbelieving light to them but was kept from responding again, this time by Tazuna.

"Well there's no problem with that, why don't the four of you come back with me to my home and my daughter Tsunami can cook us up something to eat while Naruto and I continue our, how did you put it Blondie, _fascinating _conversation hahaha."

Seeing no reason to decline, Kurenai quickly thanked the man for his offer and then she and her team followed behind the man back to his home.

It took them about another half-hour to reach Tazuna's home, and when they did, it wasn't the same house Naruto remembered from his last visit.

Instead of a shoddy, wooden two-story home they were met with a building made of stone. It was a two-story building like its predecessor, but this new house was equipped with a burnt red-orange awning in the front that was being held up by red-and-white columns. The door ways were made from a rich, heavy, dark-brown oak wood. The second story had a balcony that was surrounded by a wooden fence, no doubt the same strong wood the doors were made of. They could tell that the floor of the balcony was a system of large decorative stones spaced out through the cement binding. Windows were placed at the front, they could see at least one on the left side of the home, as well as two on the the second story that they could see. The base of the home also had a red trim around it.

"Welcome to my home, it's gotten an upgrade since you've last seen it, huh, Naruto?" Said blond could only nod his head in agreement. "Well enough standing around, lets get inside so your friends can rest and I can tell you what I wanted to talk to you about.

Once inside they were greeted by Tsunami who was already in the process of making dinner.

"It'll take a little more time now since I have to make more food for the rest of you, I hope you don't mind waiting, I just wasn't aware you'd be arriving today." Hinata quickly volunteered to help with the meal, her mind once again set on gaining a positive reaction from Naruto, while Ino let everyone know she was going to lay down on the couch and take a nap.

"So, Naruto, how about we go into my study so I can explain why I asked for you specifically on this mission, and why I was searching for you in the village earlier.", Naruto looked over to the old bridge builder and he once again felt that feeling of anxiousness well up in the pit of his stomach.

'_What's the big deal, he's probably just gonna tell me about how much better off Wave's been since Gato was taken out.' _With that thought in mind he nodded his head and followed Tazuna to his study.

Kurenai watched the two males walk off with a calculating stare. She couldn't help the curiosity that stemmed from wanting to know what Tazuna had wanted to share with JUST Naruto specifically. But before she could ponder it any further, Hinata called her over to taste test the soup she'd made. Knowing how badly Hinata wanted dinner to turn out perfect, Kurenai pushed Tazuna and his strange request to the back of her mind and went to assist her lovesick, though sometimes overly-devoted, student.

'_I just hope it doesn't become a problem'_

oo0oo

Naruto sat, listening intently as Tazuna regaled him with stories of the world before there were ninja. So entranced was he, that he almost missed when the master bridge builder began to speak about the history of Wave specifically.

"Wave country was once part of a vast empire that stretched across much of the Elemental Nations and even lands to the west of them. That wall that separates the East and West continents was built by one of the last rulers of that empire; his name was Hadrian. He built it because he felt that the empire had increased to an almost unmanageable size, and to extend it any further would lead to its collapse. Unfortunately, the collapse was inevitable as all the truly great leaders of the empire had already passed on. Their greatest having been assassinated actually." At this Naruto had to stop and ask:

"But if he was their greatest leader why did they assassinate him?"

Tazuna looked the young shinobi right in the eyes, and spoke only one word: "Fear."

This only confused Naruto more.

"What do you mean fear old man? The people loved him, so what did they have to be afraid of?" The older man couldn't help but chuckle before answering:

"It wasn't the people that feared him Naruto, it was his comrades in office that feared and despised him. They felt this way because of his position as Dictator. The senators believed that he had taken their power away from them; power the senate felt rightly belonged to them."

Naruto's mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, as he thought about how the same thing that happened to this ancient Dictator could happen to him if he were to become Hokage of the Leaf Village.

He lifted his head and looked Tazuna in the eye before asking. "What was the mans name Tazuna?"

The blonde couldn't fail to notice to smile that made its way onto the older mans face, nor the spark in his eye as he said:

"Now Naruto, that's just the question I was waiting to hear from you. Tell me, have you ever heard the name- Julius Caesar?"

The knot that had been forming in Naruto's stomach pulled even tighter at the sound of that name;

Caesar.


	2. Ave, Caesar!

**Ch. 2 Ave, Caesar (Hail, Caesar)**

**xxxxxxx**

"C-can you, ya know, tell me about him? Caesar, I mean."

Naruto sat, literally, on the edge of his seat waiting for Tazuna to tell him of the legendary leader. After learning that this guy ruled over such a large empire Naruto found himself wanting, no, needing to learn more about him. At the sound of the name "Caesar", Naruto began to hear a whisper in the back of his brain.

_"Knowledge is power, learn more and watch all the doors that open up for you." _

"Hahaha, of course I'll tell you kid. After all, he IS the greatest man in Roman history." At this Naruto cocked his head in confusion. "Rome? What's that Tazuna?"

"Rome was the name of the empire Naruto. It started with the city-state of Rome, which later became the now deserted Whirlpool, and expanded from there to this," at that moment he unrolled a map he had on the table. On the map was the entire Elemental nations, as well as the continents to the west.

The color-code to the map was mostly crimson in color, with specks of just the tan of the map littered here and there, and a forest-green beginning in the West where the red stopped.

"Every bit of red you see was included in the Roman empire. The uncolored specks were neutral city-states and the green patch that starts here in the West was the unconquered, barbarian lands."

Naruto wasn't sure what to make of this. How could one little city-state be the head of such a vast empire? "But, how did it get so big? How did Rome manage to cover so much land?"

The young genin had this gnawing curiosity eating away at him, he wanted to know more...he needed to know more. And Tazuna was all to happy to share his knowledge with him.

"Well, obviously Rome wasn't built in a day Naruto. First, they conquered their neighbors. Then, once those people were added to the population the size of the army increased as well; giving them an easier time conquering other smaller city-states until they had a large enough force to overcome bigger groups of people. It's a domino effect Naruto."

With his curiosity about the empire itself quelled for the moment, Naruto returned them to the main topic he wished to discuss.

"Okay, that makes sense, so did Caesar rule over all of this?"

This time Tazuna let out a disheartened sigh. "Unfortunately, no, he didn't. Caesar was assassinated long before the empire ever reached the height of it's expansion. However, I have no doubt that, had he not been murdered, he would have brought the empire to its height much faster than those rulers who followed after him and even been able to keep it from falling apart."

The young blond could feel the waves of...'_Sadness?' a_s Tazuna spoke about the murder of the great Dictator. "So what kind of person _was_ Caesar old man? He sounds pretty great from what you're telling me."

"Well, he was considered a master public speaker; one of the greatest in Romes history. Julius Caesar could make you do, what he thought you should do, by giving you a speech. Caesar was also a military genius; he thought of every conceivable advantage while on and off the field of battle, and always made sure that his enemies would be at a disadvantage in responding to him. He was brilliant in his ability to relate to people and make them like him. He could be friendly with his ordinary soldiers, because he was in battle with them and showed that he had just as much guts, and as much stamina, as they did. Julius Caesar was considered by many to be the greatest Roman in history."

Young Naruto was completely captivated by Tazuna's description of Caesar. The only other person he'd ever heard anything close to such praise for was his villages 4th Hokage, and even he wasn't elevated to the status of "greatest citizen in history." However, before Naruto could ask anymore about the great general, a call of "Dinner's ready!", pulled the two males from their conversation.

As Naruto got up from his seat to leave he was stopped by a hand on his arm. Looking back he saw Tazuna with a strange light in his eye.

_'He looks like he knows something I don't, then again this whole afternoon's been filled with learning new things.' _Naruto lifted an eyebrow in confusion before Tazuna answered his silent question.

"Naruto...there's some ruins on the far end of the village that I think you'd be interested in seeing. If you'd like, I can draw you a map so that you can find your way there. There's some things there that I'm sure you'd like to see." Naruto's eyes lit up and he swiftly nodded his head 'yes'.

oo0oo

As they all sat down for dinner there was only light conversation between Tsunami and Hinata, as well as Naruto and the newly arrived Inari; Tazuna's grandson. While Naruto and the young fisherman chatted away both were oblivious to a set of red eyes upon them.

Kurenai had managed to push her curiosity to the back of her mind while she helped Hinata with her stew, but upon seeing Naruto and Tazuna exit the study after over two hours of talking she couldn't stop herself from, once again, wondering about just what the two males had been talking about for so long.

_'What could the two of them honestly have been talking about for so long? There's no way they were just catching up, not with the look they both have in their eye.' _

"So, Naruto, how was catching up with Tazuna-san?" She was hoping she could trip the young blond up, and get him to reveal some of what the two of them had talked about.

_'Kakashi did say that Naruto was easy to trip up, I just have to ask the right questions.'_

Naruto, as a matter-of-fact, was about to tell the Jounin what he and Tazuna had spoke about, but before he opened his mouth the voice in the back of his head whispered to him: _'Don't tell her about what you've learned! She may try to go with you to the ruins tomorrow, and you don't want that. If she goes she'll report them to Tsunade and that could lead to more snooping around. Make something up and leave out everything you've learned today. Remember, knowledge is power, and for too long you've been without power...don't you think it's time you had some?'_

Agreeing with the voice, and deciding he liked the idea of having power, Naruto went on to tell Kurenai that they had spoken of what the two of them had been up to at first, but after running out new experiences to share, the two males simply spoke about how much better off the village seemed, and Tazuna had even explained the shipping business to Naruto.

"Well that's nice. I remember Tazuna-san had something important to tell you, did you two get a chance to discuss it?" Kurenai hoped that Naruto wouldn't read too much into her curiosity. She didn't realize Naruto had already caught on to her game.

"Unfortunately, Kurenai-sensei, we didn't. I was so caught up in Tazuna's explanation of how the shipping business works that I'd forgotten to ask him." This wasn't enough for the genjutsu mistress.

"That is unfortunate. Tazuna-san, why don't you tell Naruto now so you don't run the risk of forgetting again.' At the end she threw a small smile at the bridge builder, in the hopes to disarm any hesitation he might have about speaking of the topic in front of others.

"But sensei," Naruto cut in, "does that seem right? Tazuna said he had something he wanted to discuss with me, not the rest of the household. Think about it, if you were given documents to deliver and were told they were meant for the receivers eyes only, would you look inside?"

With this, Kurenai had been essentially disarmed of any further questions she might have asked, because she knew that if she were to keep up her questions, then she would lose face with not only her students, but also with a foreign business prospect. _'Damn it, Naruto might not be as naive as Kakashi says he is. That move just shut down any argument I might have made to get Tazuna to talk.'_

With that dinner became a quiet affair, even the usually talkative Ino was silent after hearing Naruto of all people basically dress-down a Jounin. Then, in an effort to break the silence, Naruto complimented the food.

"Tsunami everything tastes great! The fish is grilled to perfection and this stew is amazing, I've never eaten any this good before."

At hearing Naruto's compliment Hinata's cheeks took on a light-pink hue,that only darkened to a shade of red when Tsunami pointed out: " Actually Naruto, I didn't make the stew, your team mate did."

She smiled over in Hinata's direction which made Naruto realize the woman was referring to her.

"Hinata you made this?" The Hyuga heiress nodded shyly while keeping her eyes on her own plate. "Wow, I was serious, this has got to be the best stew I've ever had." Naruto was unaware the effect his words were having on the young girl sitting at the table with him.

_'Naruto-kun likes it, I did good!' _

Hinata had been worried that she had missed something or that she'd added too much of another ingredient, but to hear Naruto say it was the best he'd ever had made her face burn a fiery red and her heart to feel ready to burst. Unfortunately her bliss would soon turn to embarrassment, as Ino seemed to find her voice again.

"Well it better be good, since Hinata wouldn't move more than two steps from it. And when I told her that I thought it needed more of something, she'd get all fidgety and wouldn't leave me alone until I said it tasted perfect. Not "fine" or "okay", but perfect." Ino finished off her retort by throwing a shark-like grin at her fellow kunoichi, finding enjoyment out of teasing her about her devotion to the blonde boy at the head of the table.

"Well it worked, this turned out great. Hinata you're gonna make some guy really happy one day, -yawn-, well I'm gonna go to bed a little early; I guess all that walking tired me out more than I thought." As Naruto got up to leave he threw a glance to Tazuna and slightly nodded his head.

As Naruto was exiting the kitchen he failed to notice two sets of eyes on him.

Hinata's eyes felt like they were going to explode out of her head at the compliment given to her by her Naruto-kun. She desperately wanted to tell him that his happiness was the only one she cared about, that he was the only guy she wanted to stand beside.

_'Or kneel down in front of', _a voice whispered in her mind, causing her face to erupt in a crimson flare as her eyes followed her blond out the door until he couldn't be seen anymore.

Another set of eyes watched Naruto as he got up and left the room. However this pair wasn't filled with love and boundless devotion, but with curiosity and suspicion. She'd always been lead to believe that Naruto was a joker and not someone you'd take seriously in an argument. But with what she'd seen today, she decided that maybe...just maybe there was more to Naruto Uzumaki than meets the eye.

oo0oo

Naruto sat on the side of his bed seemingly just staring at the wall,but really, he was in deep thought.

_'Tazuna said that I'd be specifically interested in the ruins, but I wonder why? What could they hold that would interest just me?" _Before Naruto could ponder this any further the voice in his head spoke out: '_Why worry so much about the why? Instead revel in the fact that you, and you alone, will be going to see the treasures these ruins seem to hold. Tazuna wouldn't send you there if he didn't think it important or helpful to you in some way right?'_

With that Naruto was once again left to the silence of the room, and alone with his...thoughts? Suddenly it became clear to the blond that the voice he'd been hearing in his head was his own, it was his mind divulging the wisdom he'd been receiving over the last few hours! With the comforting thought that he might just be more clever than others gave him credit for, and a new sense of delightful anticipation at visiting the ruins tomorrow, Naruto lay back on his bed and drifted off to sleep.

_DREAM-_

_Naruto found himself, oddly enough, sitting atop __the front gate of his village. Sure he'd sat up here before finding out about the great view on the Hokage monument, but he couldn't think of why he'd be there now. But before he could question it any further Naruto heard, what sounded like a horn, echoing from a distance. Normally he'd have dismissed this as his ears playing tricks on him, but then he heard it again...and again...and there it was again! All until he heard the entire "song" being sung by those horns. And then that's when he saw it._

_A large group, an army by the looks of it, was marching down the dirt road to the gate of the Hidden Leaf village. The men were arranged in what seemed like squares, each one following the one in front of it. He could see the ever-blowing trumpeters at the front of the line, keeping in step with the soldiers in the front-line. __Naruto couldn't very well see what these soldiers wore, since their bodies were covered by their massive shields, but he could see that they wore metal shin-guards on there legs and what looked to be leather shoes. On their heads they wore helmets unlike any Naruto had seen before. The helmets seemed to be skull caps, with metal face plates attached to guard the sides of the wearers face, __and Naruto could just make out a piece in the back that looked to be meant as protection for the back of the neck. The helmets were silver in color, with gold trim lining the cheek plates and the edge of the skull cap. There were also golden...circles? Three on each cheek plate and two on either side of the skull cap._

_Further back Naruto observed that there were other soldiers that were dressed differently from these front-line soldier. He could see some soldiers had plate armor; silver, __metal plates stacked on top of each other and tied at the back by leather straps. These men also wore what seemed like scarves around their necks._

_**'Probably to avoid chaffing.' **__Naruto thought before continuing his observations._

_He noticed that the soldiers had a short-sword at their waste, the scabbard strap slung over their shoulders, and a slightly shorter blade fitted to the opposite side of their waste. Naruto could see that around their wastes the men wore leather...skirts around their waste?_

_**'Pteruges' **His __mind corrected him._

_These leather strips at times were studded with metal caps for added protection. On their feet they too wore metal grieves and leather shoes. These men had helmets in similar fashion to the ones in the front-line._

_A small dot of red out of the corner of his eye caught Naruto's attention next. This man had a red streak of horse hair going across the top of his helmet horizontally. He also had a red cloak hanging from just his right shoulder. Naruto saw another soldier with these additions and noticed that, while most men wore the plated armor, some of these men had different styles of armor. Some had what seemed like metal scales peeking out from over their tunic, others had chain mail. Some men wore the plated armor, while others had armor that looked like muscle._

_**'Cuirass.' ** Naruto's mind informed him again. __Naruto summarized that these differences in armor __were used to separate rank, and to make sure that everyone could plainly see this separation._

_The neighing of a horse drew Naruto's attention back to the front of the march, and he noticed for the first time men riding, and leading the other men, on horseback. He noticed that these soldiers __ had silver Cuirass that allowed the shoulders of their blood-red tunics to show through. These were covered by red leather strips as well, just as their waists were covered.__ Like the other soldiers these men had metal shin-guards and leather shoes, though he could tell that the metal being used for these men's armor was of higher quality than the other soldiers. These men also wore blood-red capes that, instead of hanging from their shoulders, seemed to wrap around the neck and flow outward from there. These soldiers helmets were also different. Instead of being made from multiple attachments, theirs was one single piece of metal. It still remained able to protect the neck and face, but didn't run the risk of having a piece be damaged and fall apart. The helmets also had red horse hair on top but instead of side-to-side, these guys wore theirs front-to-back. Overall Naruto silently admitted to himself that these guys looked cooler than the other soldiers._

_And then Naruto found himself drawn to a soldier who was riding just steps ahead of the other officers in front. Naruto wasn't sure why, but after his eyes had been drawn to this particular soldier, he couldn't look away. The man seemed to exude confidence, if his straight back and almost swaggering riding pace were any indication. His eyes were trained on the approaching gate; a wolfish smirk sat across his face. This man, Naruto guessed, was the general of the entire force. Then Naruto noticed something...the man had blue eyes. Eyes that seemed very familiar to him._

_Then, as if sensing someones eyes upon him, the general looked up and met eye to eye with Naruto._

_**-END DREAM**_

Naruto bolted up from bed and quickly placed his hand over his racing heart, as if to try and sooth the thumping organ. The young blond wasn't sure what had just happened. One minute he was staring at that general, the next, their eyes meet and he's thrust from his own dream as if he were an unwelcome quest. However, before awakening, Naruto remembered a feeling; one he felt when he looked into that guys eyes. Not only had he felt the power of the man, the absolute dominating presence he seemed to give off in waves, but he also felt a sense of...familiarity. As if he'd seen that man somewhere before.

So engrossed was he in his thoughts, Naruto never noticed the bedroom door cracked open, nor the pale lavender eye that watched him so intensely.

While Hinata could have used her byakugan to watch her love sleep in that morning, it wasn't the same as seeing him in the flesh—instead of just a ghostly outline of him and his chakra pathways. Yes, she could have concentrated and gotten a better image, but again, she reasoned with herself, it just isn't the same. When she saw the wide eyed look on his face upon his awakening Hinata summarized he'd had either an exciting dream...or a terrible nightmare. While at first she'd hoped for the former, _'Maybe it was about me, _her mind swiftly turned against her and decided if it had been an _exciting_ dream, it would have been about Sakura. And this made the Hyuga princess both sad...and very angry.

Sad because she wanted her Naruto-kun to notice her as the one who should stand beside him as he rose to glory, but angry because his attention was given to someone so unworthy of it. Here was Sakura, being given the only thing Hinata's ever wanted, and she just throws it away like garbage. The thought just infuriated the young girl. She would do anything to have her Naruto-kun look at her the way he'd looked at Sakura, anything to gain favor with her most precious person. Anything.

Breakfast was another mostly quiet affair, with the only real talking being Tsunami asking everyone how they'd slept and conversing with them about the dreams they'd had, if any. Naruto once again listened to his inner voice and told the other members of the breakfast table a more..._appropriate _ response. He told them he'd dreamed of a world where everywhere he went he was allowed free ramen.

Hinata, knowing this to be a lie, but not wanting to risk displeasing Naruto by being nosy, _'And because I don't know how I'd explain knowing he was lying' _kept quiet. And so breakfast continued on as it was.

After breakfast was finished, and while Tsunami did the dishes with Hinata's offered help, Naruto and Tazuna retreated back into the study so Naruto could receive his map. And while Tazuna may not have noticed the pair of red eyes that would glance in their direction, Naruto did, and made a mental note to keep the map out of her site so as not to arouse any more suspicion. _'_

_'I don't need her nosing around trying to figure out what I'm doing. I don't get why she won't just leave me alone.'_

While Naruto and Tazuna entered the study, Kurenai and Ino made their way to the living room.

It was a modest room, comprised of relatively nice furniture: a nice blue couch with stained wooden trim, a deep-blue chaise lounge chair, and a nice little wooden coffee table in the center of the room. On the floor were various rugs of relatively good quality atop stained wooden floors. Kurenai took to sitting on the couch while asking Ino to take the lounge chair so that they could talk.

Ino, confused about what the older kunoichi wished to discuss, took her seat and waited patiently for Kurenai-sensei to address the topic of discussion.

"Ino have you noticed anything...off during our time here? While I understand we've only been here for about a day, I've personally felt as if something strange was going on. I was hoping to see if anyone else noticed it too." She didn't specify that it was Naruto that she felt off about because she wasn't sure how close the two blonds were to each other, and didn't want to risk being confronted for her curiosity.

Luckily, she quickly learned there was no need for concealment.

"I'm glad it's not just me sensei, because yes, I've noticed Naruto has been acting strangely since even before we got here. Then, after we met up with Tazuna-san he got even weirder. I tried to get a read off him last night after dinner when he got up to go to bed, but I dunno, I couldn't figure him out."

Kurenai was relieved to learn that she wasn't the only one to notice the blond boys strange behavior.

"I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who's noticed. Normally I know Hinata would notice this kind of stuff but, considering the subject, she probably doesn't think there's anything wrong with him."

Ino snorted before replying. "Yeah, and I wasn't kidding last night when I said she was dead set on making sure that stew was perfect. I mean, I get it if she's trying to score points with Naruto because I'd do something similar for Sasuke-kun but, she had this...this _look_ in her eye when I would tell her something I thought needed fixing. Like she'd just committed a crime by not having the meal be perfect."

This bit of news was like an ice block dropping in the genjutsu mistresses stomach. She knew her student had feelings for the blond Jinchuuriki but what Ino just described went far beyond any schoolgirl crush, and bordered on complete devotion to a single person. She desperately hoped her fears were unfounded. Unfortunately the ice block in her stomach refused to melt away.

Pushing her fears for her student to the back of her mind for the moment, Kurenai re-engaged Ino in conversation about the lone male on their squad and what they thought was causing his strange behavior.

Naruto and Tazuna exited the study about an hour after they'd gone in, the map tucked away in one of the pockets Naruto's jumpsuit had on the inside; keeping it out of sight of prying, red eyes. Informing the rest of his team that he was going to visit Zabuza and Haku's graves for a while, Naruto had reached the front door when he heard a soft voice ask: "N-naruto-kun, do you think, m-maybe I could go with you?"

Naruto felt a little bad at having to turn Hinata down, but he knew this was a trip meant solely for him to take right now. Maybe later, when he could speak with her alone, he'd let Hinata in on what he'd learned as well as what he was going to learn later today. Unfortunately, for now, he felt she was too close to her sensei and may speak to her about what she would learn. So for now he decided secrecy was his best option.

"Sorry Hinata, not today. Maybe some other time okay? This is something I just want to do alone right now." It hurt him a little to see the disheartened look on her face but he pushed that aside and was about to make his way out the door when the young girl asked:

"Naruto-kun? I-if it had been Sakura-san to ask, w-would you have allowed her to go with you?"

The blond didn't even have to think about it before answering, "No", and continuing out the door so as to avoid anymore questions.

If he had looked again he would have seen the light begin to return to Hinata's eyes at hearing that Sakura wouldn't have been preferred company over her.

oo0oo

As Naruto walked through the village of Wave country he noticed that many of the old, beaten down, wooden establishments and homes had become stone buildings with sturdy roofs and lines of customers. He also took notice that the people were happier, and their clothes had changed from patchy rags to tunics and strapped sandals. Some people also wore variants of what he'd seen Tazuna in; some wore red, some blue, and even the occasional yellow robes. These particular people also held a certain air about them, almost like he'd seen Sasuke walk with, but less stuffy. No, that feeling belonged to the few men he'd seen in white tunics with a red pallium draped across it. But even those men gave Naruto sincere smiles in thanks for his returning the village to its former glory.

After what felt like hours, Naruto arrived at the ruins of Wave country. He'd known he was close when he began to see pieces of columns and triumphal arches; things he'd learned from Tazuna as he was drawing the map. The young blond was amazed by the craftsmanship exhibited through these pieces of history, even if they were eroded by time.

He knew he'd officially arrived when he saw that there were actual whole buildings still standing. He walked through what seemed to be a neighborhood judging from the types of building he saw.

_'They look like apartments, wait, Tazuna said there was a name for those...insulae, I think it was.'_

He quietly made his way down the worn-down, stone-paved path. He noticed the, for it's day, ingenuitive design of the drainage ditches and how the road was cambered which allowed it to be drained. Naruto walked down this road, and many others, admiring and inspecting the forgotten world around him, until he finally happened upon the building Tazuna told him specifically to seek.

The temple was, like most of the other buildings, wash-white due to age. It sat atop a raised platform and had steps that lead you to the small stretch of platform that lead to the entry way. There were six columns that held up the front of the roof, a roof that looked like a flat, but three-dimensional, triangle. There were columns along both sides as well to assist in holding up this roof before they morphed into walls of a building. **(look up Maison Carree for an idea of what it looks like.)**

The temple was huge**.** It was longer, and taller, than any other temple he'd seen by far. And according to Tazuna, it was dedicated entirely to Caesar.

The temple, also according to the bridge builder, was said to have housed Caesar's own written works. His campaign journals. It's also said that his family records had been included in his temple, and that every generation up until about 50 years ago, had inscribed their name into the line.

When Naruto asked why Caesar's temple was built in Wave country rather than Rome itself, Tazuna replied:

"A temple was built in Rome, but they moved his works and the family records to Wave because of Caesar's enemies. If they'd found his journals then they'd be able to implement his brilliant military strategies in a way no Roman's felt was proper. The people felt that for a non-relative of Caesar to even look in the book was an offense to the man's memory. And if his enemies had known the location of his family record at any time? Then his blood line would've ceased to exist centuries ago out of their fear of another Caesar being born."

Naruto slowly began his ascent of the temple steps and then, as he reached the platform, he noticed some Latin words inscribed above the entrance that read:

"_**VIVAT CAESAR" (LONG LIVE CAESAR)**_

After reading the inscription on the wall, Naruto once again began his entrance into the temple. As he began to move forward the blond could feel the knot in his stomach returning, and the anxiousness in his heart began to cause the organ to beat rapidly. He remembered the last time he'd felt this way was rewarded with knowledge of this once great empire and a famous general. So, with thoughts of what the reward would be for this time, Naruto strode in with a more confident step.

He was completely unprepared for what he saw upon entering the temple.

There, in the very center of the temple, stood a statue. This statue was so tall, it missed touching the ceiling by perhaps 5 to 10ft. While Naruto was sure it had at one time been colored, it now stood white like everything else in the ruins. However, unlike everything else, the color loss was the only indication that this statue had been affected by time. There were no cracks, no chips, and no erosion. The statue had remained in perfect condition.

The statue depicted Caesar in the same outfit as Naruto had seen the general in his dream wear, except he'd taken off his helmet and held it tucked underneath his arm while his right arm sat holding the hilt of his gladius; showing him to be left handed. However, as magnificent as the statue was, the thing that truly caught Naruto's attention, was the mans face.

With his helmet off Naruto could see very clearly the face of the great Dictator. It also explained why Naruto had felt such a familiarity with the blue-eyed general in his dream. What he saw brought tears to his eyes.

Because what Naruto saw...was an adult version of himself.

oo0oo

_A/N: And there it is. Naruto is about to begin his transition into Caesar. The image I used for the cover image is basically what I imagine when I think of Naruto as Caesar. The entire look of Caesar from War Of The Damned is what I've used as Naruto's future look. I tried to start hinting at Naruto's non-combative skills this chapter as well without making him too over-the-top yet. _

_More of Hinata's submissive nature was revealed this chapter, as well as her radical devotion to Naruto. I mentioned Sakura __**because**__ she's going to be instrumental to Hinata finally joining with Naruto later on in the story(no I don't plan to kill her)_

_Ino and Kurenai have become basically Naruto's first conspirators. Ino will eventually be turned to Naruto's side, but Kurenai will remain a thorn in Naruto's side throughout the story. Also, there will of course be more conspirators._

_And yes, Tazuna knew of Naruto's connection to Caesar, but not until after their first meeting._


	3. Renascentia aquilae

**A/N: Before I begin I'd like to publicly thank White fox16 for their assistance in helping me navigate through an uploading problem I was having.**

**While it wasn't really what most would consider a dire problem, I want to try and make this story as enjoyable as possible for those who ****enjoy my idea as much as I do. **

**So, thank you White fox16, your help was much appreciated.**

**Ch. 3 Renascentia aquilae (Rebirth of the Eagle)**

**xxxxxxx**

Naruto couldn't believe his eyes.

There, standing right in front of him, was essentially a giant statue of himself. It was seeing this, that made Naruto realize why Tazuna had been so insistent about speaking with him, why he'd told Naruto about Rome and the ruins of Wave country. Naruto was a descendent of Caesar; the greatest man in an empires entire history. It almost seemed too good to be true.

But then, years of hurtful words and scorn from an entire population began to rear its ugly head, and Naruto found himself feeling a bit of doubt.

_'How can I be related to someone so important? This guy was loved by, basically, his entire empire; while I'm looked at like a disease on human society. It...just doesn't seem possible.'_

Despite Naruto's recent enlightenment to his own advanced mind, he still found it hard to believe that he could be related to the powerful figure that stood before him. No matter how much his own mind screamed it was true.

But then Naruto remembered the family records that had been placed at the very back room of the temple. The records that had been continuously written in up until 50 years ago, and was bound to be able to tell the blonde if any Uzumaki's had written in it! With this hope in mind, Naruto began a mad dash for the rear of the temple.

Passing by several rooms, which Naruto had learned were used by the shrine maidens of old, the blonde found himself at the entry way to the last room. Stopping just outside the doorway, all Naruto could see from his position was the blank wall in front of him. He tried to take a step forward, so as to get a look at what was inside, but his legs wouldn't move. He was afraid.

Naruto feared that this was all a joke, or a dream. He feared that he would look through the log book and find that he was not related to the great man who's statue he'd just left. He expected, and slightly hoped, that this was all just a dream and that he would wake up as soon as he entered this room. He hoped for the dream scenario because it wasn't the first time he'd had a dream like this, only in those others he was related to the 4th Hokage, not a ruler of an entire empire.

As Naruto stood there, debating what to do, he felt the knot reappear in his stomach. Something that was happening a lot lately. Then he remembered that it was this same knot that he'd felt just moments ago as he was debating whether to enter the temple or not...and when he went along with the feeling he found the statue; something that wouldn't have come to pass had he played it safe and turned around.

So, armed with renewed faith, the young Uzumaki stepped through the doorway and into the final room of the temple. What he saw wasn't what he'd been expecting.

Where as Naruto had expected the final room to be immaculately furnished, the room he walked into was sparse and nearly empty.

The room was about the size of Naruto's apartment and consisted of a plain table and chair, with a black-leather bound book sitting in the middle of the desk, as well as a small shelf on the wall; both just out of sight of someone standing outside the door. The shelf contained two rows of books—all brown, leather-bound and four fingers thick. Naruto guessed those were Caesar's campaign journals...which made the black book on the table the family records.

With a lump in his throat, Naruto slowly walked over to to the chair, pulled it out, and sat down.

After scooting in the young blonde let out a breathe he didn't know he'd been holding, causing the dust on the table top to kick up and swirl around in the air. A testament to just how much time had passed since anyone had been in this room. He lifted his shaking hand and reached out towards the book.

**xxxxxx**

Almost immediately after Naruto had left the house Tsunami asked Hinata if she'd go out and get ingredients for dinner that night. Hinata, always the polite one, accepted the task with a smile.

And so, Hinata now found herself walking through the village with grocery bags in hand. She was happy to do a favor for someone who saw her Naruto-kun as the great person he was, a person who deserved nothing but the utmost respect.

_'And unwavering loyalty'_, her mind spoke up.

Hinata found nothing wrong with her devotion to the blue-eyed, blonde-haired genin. She'd seen how other girls acted around Sasuke when she'd gone to the academy, and felt she was different because her feelings were feelings of love; not just some schoolgirl crush. She didn't find it odd that she was so inclined to gain favor from her Naruto-kun, nor did the young Hyuga find it strange that she didn't share the depths of her feelings with her surrogate older sister Kurenai,

_'She wouldn't understand anyway, she'd probably just think I was acting like those girls at the academy. Well she, and everyone else for that matter, won't have anything to say when my Naruto-kun is standing atop the Hokage building giving his inauguration speech. And I'll be right there by his side, he'll have finally realized that I've always been there for him and will reward me for my devotion.'_

With that ending thought Hinata entered into a state of bliss as her mind began to play out the different ways her Naruto-kun would _reward _her for being so devoted to him. This lead the Hyuga princess to needing to find a secluded area where she could feel the full effects of her imagination.

_'I don't think Tsunami-san will mind if I take a little detour getting home; it is rather warm out today after all .' A_nd with that, the young kunoichi veered off towards the forest to help _relieve herself of the heat_.

**xxxxxxx**

Tazuna sat in his study staring at the map he'd shown Naruto yesterday, his eyes trained on one spot in particular. He was staring at Rome. He still couldn't fully grasp what he'd learned about Naruto, and his connection to Caesar.

He'd made the discovery a few short weeks after Naruto and his team left from Wave:

**FLASHBACK-**

_Tazuna was stumbling about, just coming out of another drunken stupor. When he fully came to his senses he noticed that he had entered into some of the woods that encircled Wave. Although, he didn't recognize any of his surroundings. He looked around and noticed a stone road that seemed to go on for miles. Deciding that following the road was his best bet, Tazuna began to walk. He walked for what he guessed was an hour and a half before he noticed...broken columns and triumphal arches?_

"_But, columns haven't been used in ages! Not...since...Roman times", Tazuna's mind began to click everything into place: The stone roads, the columns, the arches; it could only mean one thing._

_He'd found Roman ruins!_

_Tazuna could feel the smile that stretched from ear to ear across his face and the swelling of his heart upon realizing just what he'd found. He'd grown up on tales of the ancient empire, hearing tales of Marius, Hadrian, and of course, he was told stories of Caesar. He'd been raised with a high sense of patriotism which was why he'd fought so hard to free his country from Gato, because he refused to see a piece of the once great Roman empire put under the thumb of some low-level thug!_

_And so, Tazuna continued his trek through the ruins, taking in the craftsmanship of the columns and arches; true works of art._

_Finally, after what seemed like hours, Tazuna happened upon the entrance of a town—a real, still standing, town! His excitement mounting to new levels, Tazuna's pace quickened, wanting to begin exploring the ancient treasure he'd stumbled upon. He knew he was in for a long night._

**xxxxxxx**

_Hours had passed since Tazuna had discovered the desolate, but beautiful, town. He'd explored the forum and all its shops; finding blacksmith equipment in some buildings. He'd scoured through homes; finding what appeared to be old world clay ovens in the homes of upper-class citizens and then finding braziers__**(stoves for the poor) **__in the insulae of the lower class citizens. He journeyed then to the temples and government buildings. What he would find __there __would forever change the course of history._

_Having just exited a temple of Jupiter, the old bridge builder was greeted with light as the sun began to rise seemingly out of the trees. This brought the novice explorer to a standstill as he realized,_

_'I've been out all night, Tsunami's probably worried sick, not to mention how Inari probably feels. I should go home for now. I can always come back later; and next time I can bring others.' So, with his mind made up, Tazuna turned and started walking away._

_The man had made it to the entrance to the town when he heard it. A bird call._

_Normally Tazuna would just ignore it and continue with his business—but he'd never heard this type of bird call before. That, accompanied by the tightening knot in his stomach, enticed the older man to turn around and find the bird. What he saw astonished him greatly. There, perched atop the roof of one of the shops, sat an eagle. This shocked the man because eagles were not native to Wave country, and were never seen flying in its airways. So then what was one doing here now?_

_Then Tazuna noticed something strange. The bird...seemed to be looking right at him._

_As Tazuna began to back away the bird let out another cry, and continued to do so with each step back the bridge builder took, "I-It's as if the bird's telling me to wait", he mumbled quietly._

_So he took a few steps forward, and was rewarded with a shrill chirping that sounded almost like 'yes'. Tazuna, still unsure of what was going on, remembered that the eagle was not only the symbol of Rome, but also Jupiter's favorite form to take when dealing with mortals. But, that was impossible...wasn't it?_

_Before he could ponder it any further the bird hopped from its perch and floated in the air, its wings gently flapping to keep it afloat, and then turned around and began to fly back into the city._

_While still unsure what to make of what he was seeing, Tazuna decided that there was really no harm in following the bird. After all, he was already late getting home, what difference would it make? So he began to run, chasing down the eagle that had stopped again to wait for him. He ran for what felt like forever, passing by familiar buildings he remembered exploring the night before, and then catching glances at the buildings he had yet to explore as the bird carried him deeper into the ancient city._

_Finally, the majestic bird settled on the rooftop of a building. And what a building it was! Tazuna now stood in front of the largest building he'd seen in among the ruins. 'Ruins, ha, this temple looks like it hasn't aged a day.' But he didn't have long to marvel as the bird began to call to him again._

_Looking up Tazuna noticed, once again, that the eagle was looking right at him. It would look at him and then turn its head down, before lifting it again and letting out a cry that echoed across the city. Following the knot in his stomach, Tazuna began to walk forward until he reached the bottom step that lead to the temple. He could feel his heart race as he looked to the step, and then then to the bird perched above him. Only to see that the bird was gone!_

_The man rushed back a few feet to be able to see beyond the temple as he searched the skies, but there was no bird in sight, not even a speck in the cloudless sky to show that it'd flown away._

_This only made the bridge builders heart race faster. He'd heard many legends and tales of how the eagle of Jupiter guided men and women to a path that would later lead to greatness, or appear and fly away from a place to hint at danger if Jupiter felt your life was worth sparing. Taking note that the bird had appeared and flown to the temple, Tazuna took heart in the knowledge that it was the former._

_With a renewed sense of purpose Tazuna walked back to the steps, and began his ascent towards the temple door. What he saw once he'd reached the platform nearly knocked the man off his feet._

_There, above the entry way, was the Latin words for: "Long Live Caesar"! This was unbelievable, Tazuna was floored. His legs felt weak, they shook, before he sank to his knees. Feeling wetness on his face he reached up, when he pulled his hand away he found he was crying. Tears of joy continued to stream down his face as he began to laugh. He'd found it, he'd actually found it!_

_One of the stories he'd been told as a boy was that one of Caesar's temples had been built somewhere in Wave country, long before it was ever known as such, and was the home of not only the mans military journals, but his family record as well! And now, thanks to the eagle, he'd found it!_

_While still on his knees the Tazuna did a quick prayer, and sent thanks to the gods, before standing on shaking legs and slowly making his way inside. Once he'd reached the entry way he noticed a large set of legs standing atop a platform, 'A statue of Caesar no doubt', and what he saw once he was finally inside astounded him._

_The statue was a masterpiece. Every detail looked to have been sculpted with the utmost care, creating the most life-like image out of stone that Tazuna had ever seen. It looked as if the statue would step right off the platform and head right into battle. Tazuna spent long minutes inspecting the statue from his place on the ground, continuously finding something new to marvel at: the way the cape seemed as if it would begin to rustle in the unseen wind, the way the muscles in the arms expressed readiness in how they were positioned, and then there was the face. When the older man's sight reached the face of the great general, his eyes nearly rolled right out of his head._

_He was staring Naruto._

_**-END FLASHBACK**_

Tazuna recalled, after coming out of his shock,searching the temple and found the family records. What he found made the man do something he'd never imagined himself doing...he fainted.

After awakening from his impromptu slumber, the bridge builder placed the book back on the table and rushed home as quickly as possible. He had to let everyone know what he'd found! First, of course, he returned home where he was engulfed in a teary hug from his daughter, who thought him dead in some hole or mauled by the wildlife of the forest. Tazuna quickly put his daughters mind at rest and told her of his discovery.

**FLASHBACK-**

"_Tsunami I'm sorry I worried you so much, I was out drinking last night," at this his daughter let out a huff of disappointment, "-sigh- yes, I know, but I was out drinking last and wound up wandering into the woods. When I finally came back to my senses I wasn't really sure __where __I was, and then I noticed a stone path. I followed the path and, Tsunami, you'll never believe what I found!"_

_He went on to tell her of everything he'd experienced while he was out, and by the end of his tale, Tsunami was just as excited as he was. She, like Tazuna, was raised on stories of the Roman empire. And now to hear that it had a chance to resurface? It was almost too good to be true!_

_So the two of them gathered up the people of Wave country and Tazuna lead them to the ruins. The town seemed to just...come alive again, with all the people walking around, "oohing" and "aahing" at the ancient world around them. This went on for several hours, everyone wanting to see and experience everything the old world treasure had to offer. Finally, after everyone began to settle in at the Forum, Tazuna spoke out,_

"_People of Wave, hear me! I know that this has been an exciting day fro all of you, but there is still more to see!" At hearing this,murmurs broke out:_

"_More?"_

"_What more could we want to see?"_

"_I don't know but it's got Tazuna excited so I wanna find out"_

_These, and more of the same, were what greeted Tazuna's declaration. He responded incline,_

"_Now, I know it may seem hard to believe, but what I have next to show you will surely be worth it. If you would all follow me I will show you the __real__ reason I was so excited." When most of the village looked on in skepticism, Tsunami came forward in her fathers defense._

"_People, please, trust that what my father says is the truth. You trusted him to save us from Gato and he did. You trusted him today, when you know in your heats how unlikely his tale seemed. All he's asking, is that you put your trust in him one more time, and let him bring you the same joy he feels now. What's so wrong with that?"_

_That did it. Every member of the village broke out into a smile, and a look of belief shined in their eyes as they stood straighter, bodies filled with a new sense of anticipation. They were ready to be shown this new great wonder. Tazuna sent a grateful smile to his daughter before turning and walking off towards Caesar's temple._

_Upon arrival at the temple the villagers mouths dropped to the ground in awe of its greatness. Never before had they laid eyes upon something so immaculate. It was after hearing Tazuna's next words that sent the mass of people into a frenzy,_

"_My fellow villagers, each of us were raised by our parents on the stories and customs of the once great empire of Rome. Stories and customs we have passed down to our own children, who will no doubt pass it on to __their own __children. I bring you here today to inform you: the days of the Roman empire will soon rise again!"_

_Many of the villagers were weary of the bridge builders words. This wasn't to say they didn't wish for the return of those ancient days, but it just didn't seem possible. Tazuna, sensing their hesitation, quickly spoke up again:_

"_Wait, stay and listen! Inside this temple lies the tools to the empires glorious return, I promise you! For this is no ordinary temple. This, is the temple of GAIUS! JULIUS! CAESAR!" He finished his exclamation with the throwing out of his arms in excitement._

_Tazuna's words struck a chord in every individual standing outside the temple._

_While it's true that they'd all grown up hearing different tales of famous Romans, everyone's favorite stories were always the ones that involved the great Dictator. His very name caused a tingle to shoot up their spines. The children's eyes all widened in glee at hearing his name, as they had all gone to bed with stories of the mans bravery and heroic deeds._

_Seeing that everyone was ready, Tazuna began funneling them into the temple._

**-END FLASHBACK**

Tazuna let out a laugh at remembering the peoples faces when they learned that their savior, Naruto Uzumaki, was also the descendent of their great Caesar. Suddenly Tazuna's belief in the resurrection of Rome didn't seem so far fetched.

He'd sent the mission request to the Leaf as an excuse to get Naruto here, so Tazuna could show and teach Naruto about Rome. Then, with the boys curiosity stoked, he'd tell the blonde about the ruins. He wasn't at all surprised at the boys ability to ward off that Jounin; he knew the kid was more clever than others gave him credit for. And now, with the knowledge that Caesar was his ancestor, he knew that the boys cleverness would only become more dangerous to his enemies.

Now, all that was left to do was wait, and be ready for the rebirth of the eagle.

**xxxxxx**

Naruto sat there, his hand hanging in the air above the black book on the table in front of him. He wasn't really sure how long he'd set there; it felt like days. But what he did know, was that he wouldn't ever find out the truth if he didn't open the book and take a look inside!

Swallowing the lump in his throat Naruto pulled the cover over and revealed what appeared to be an authors note on the the front cover:

"**Caesarem quasi hydrae amputavit caput , et multo plures tantum locum dedit."**

Unfortunately, Naruto had not learned enough Latin from Tazuna that day to be able to read the whole thing, the only word he'd really been able to decipher was "Caesar".

After adding 'learning Latin' to his list of things to do when he left, Naruto began to once again flip through the book, scouring through the names in hopes of finding his own.

**xxxxxx**

While Naruto searched for a link to his past, Kurenai stood atop the balcony of Tazuna's home deep in thought.

'_I just can't seem to figure it out. What could those two have been in such deep discussion about? And then there was this morning! They go _ _into the study again, and then Naruto comes out and just decides he's going to check on some grave? I highly doubt it.'_

In fact, the ruby-eyed Jounin doubted it so much that she'd sent a clone out to the graves soon after he left and she got the location from Tsunami. She learned, after it dispelled itself, that the blonde genin never actually visited the graves. He'd lied, which could really only mean one thing:

He knew she was watching him.

_'That kid's a hell of a lot smarter than Kakashi-san gave him credit for. I wonder how he'll react when I inform him of just how clever his _ _student really is.'_

Speaking of informing others, she knew she'd have to report her charges strange behavior to not only the Hokage, but Master Jiraiya as well. Perhaps they could shed a little light on just what Naruto's strange behavior could mean. Until then all she could really do now was wait.

Ino was bored.

Ino Yamanaka hated being bored.

But then there wasn't much else she could do right now anyway. For the first time she didn't feel like going out and browsing the shops of another village. She just wanted to: GO HOME! She didn't even understand why she'd been given the mission in the first place.

_'__I mean yeah, I'm a future clan head, but that doesn't mean I really need to go on these kinds of missions does it? And I don't even have anyone to interact with on this team! Hinata's no fun to talk to, and the only thing she probably even __wants__ to talk about is Naruto, which is a subject I am...not...interested-' _The female blonde let her thoughts stop for a moment as she thought about the other blonde on the team. The one who'd been acting strangely.

She'd never really been close to Naruto, but she didn't necessarily dislike him as Sakura seemed to, she just never found any merit in being his friend. In the academy he was so loud and annoying, his stupid pranks and his awful jokes, Ino wasn't sure what Hinata saw in him. But now, the Naruto that was on this mission with her, seemed like the complete opposite of what she's used to.

The Naruto she'd gone on this mission with was quiet, calculative, and dare she say it...cool.

_'Pfft, "Naruto" and "cool", two words I never expected to have in the same sentence unless there was a "not" in-between them. But, _ _something's been up with him since he learned about our mission from Wave. Almost as if he was expecting something to happen after we got here, _ _which something did happen. He met that guy, Tazuna, and ever since their little conversation in the street the two of them have been acting _ _weird.'_

Ino wasn't sure what was going on, but when she thought about Naruto and his strange behavior she could feel the beginnings of a knot start to form in her stomach. What that meant, she dreaded to guess. Her thoughts were broken by Hinata's return with the groceries for dinner that night.

"I'm gonna have to talk to Shikamaru about this when we get back."

**xxxxxx**

Hinata wiped her face on her sleeve.

After relieving herself from the _heat_ she'd been feeling, the young girl went in search of a body of water to help her cool off from her _activities_. Luckily she was in a country that was surrounded by water.

She couldn't believe she'd really just pleasured herself out in the middle of the woods! What her Naruto-kun think of her if he'd learned of such a thing!?

"H-He might never accept me i-if he knew w-what I just did, I-I have to make sure he doesn't find out."

While normal girls wouldn't have thought this way, Hinata Hyuga was no normal girl. Her devotion to the blonde Jinchuuriki was absolute; an order from him superseded even that of the Hokage or her own father. After years of neglect at the hands of her cla,n Hinata became dependent on the sense of confidence and self-worth she got from watching Naruto. He'd become her entire world, and he hadn't even known it.

"B-But that will all change. S-Soon, I'll be strong enough t-to not only tell him h-how I feel, but also s-show him as well. T-Then, when he sees what I've done for him, he'll a-allow me the privilege of s-serving him"

With those reassuring words, the fiercely loyal Hyuga princess began her return to Tazuna's house, where she would wait patiently for her Naruto-kun.

**xxxxxx**

Naruto sat there, his eyes glued to the page in front of him. It read:

**Kagato Uzumaki**

There it was, near the very end of the book. Naruto didn't know who this _Kagato_ was, but he held the name Uzumaki, so that counted for something...right? '_Don't start panicking, Tazuna said it's been 50 years since anyone's written in this book. For all I know, this guy could be my grandfather or something. I'll just have to-'_

Before the young Uzumaki could finish his thought he noticed something near the bottom of the page. It was faded, but it looked like letters. Knowing he would need better light to see, Naruto decided to head outside the temple.

Once outside, Naruto carefully opened the book back to the last page, and held it so that the sunlight would cause the paper to become see-through. When he looked at the bottom of the page again, there, in childish scrawl, was another name:

**Kushina Uzumaki**

Although Naruto still didn't know who this person was, "A girl from the sound of it", he was even more certain now that he was related to the man who's statue resembled him. He just had to figure out who was Kushina Uzumaki? For the moment though, he'd go back inside and take a look at all the things he'd passed over in his rush to find the truth. So, turning around, Naruto walked back up the steps and into the temple.

After returning inside, Naruto put the book inside one of the pockets of his jumpsuit; so as not to run the risk of laying it down somewhere and forgetting it. He searched through each room he came across, though most of them were boring bedrooms. Then, as he reached farther back in the temple, he came across something interesting.

He found a mannequin wearing the same suit of armor as the statue.

He noticed that, while not in the worst condition, the armor was still unreliable in battle due to its age and lack of use. And yet, despite its aged appearance, the armor still held its dignified look. Deciding he liked the look of the armor and the sense of power he felt coming from it, Naruto came up with an idea:

_'Why not have __my own_ _set of armor made?'_

So, after going back to where he found the records, the blonde genin found an inkwell and a quill, sitting on one of the shelves of the bookcase, that he took back to the room with the mannequin. When he returned with his utensils Naruto sat in front of the suit and began to sketch it on one of the blank pages at the back of the log. He followed this up by drawing it from both sides, as well as the back, until he had a perfect set of blue-prints for the entire suit of armor; from the helmet to the metal guards on the shin. Naruto also made sure to gently move back the folds of the red cloak, so as to get a better look at the whole curaiss. In doing so, the blonde revealed a set of leather shoulder pads that sat over the arm holes of the armor. Another thing Naruto discovered, as he made a full trip around the armor, was that the leather shoes, were actually more like boots. They went as high as the middle of the calf.

Figuring he'd spent enough time in the ruins, Naruto decided he'd call it a day. After grabbing a rucksack from one of the bedrooms and placing the records and his map back in his jacket pocket, Naruto exited the temple and began his walk back to town.

_'Just have to make one stop before going back to the house.'_

**xxxxxxx**

"Hello, and welcome to-" Tsuichi Nagita froze, his greeting left unfinished as he stared at who had just entered his store. _'Tazuna was right, _ _he looks just like __**him**__'_

Standing at the doorway to Tsuichi's shop was Naruto Uzumaki.

"Hello sir, I saw your sign outside and was hoping you could help me with something. You are the master blacksmith right?"

When Naruto first saw the sign that read "Tsuichi's swords&amp;armors", he had been expecting to see a large, burly man standing in front of a forge with a leather apron and a smithing hammer in and. What he got was something totally opposite.

The man in front of him wasn't thin or out of shape, he just had a more...athletic build than one would expect from a master blacksmith. Although, he at least looked old enough to be a master blacksmith, _'At least he's got a beard'_. The man was dressed in a sturdy tunic and probably strapped sandals, had shoulder length black hair that was tied back in a ponytail, wore a full beard on his face, and was covered in black soot. His muscled arms were crossed in front of his chest and were resting on the counter he stood behind. When Naruto asked his question the man blinked his charcoal eyes and refocused his attention on the blonde in front of him.

"Ahem, I can assure you young man, I am the blacksmith you seek," Tsuichi by this point had walked from around the counter and had extended his hand, "my name is Tsuichi Nagita, welcome to my store." Naruto extended his own hand and gripped the older mans in a firm grip.

"My name's Naruto Uzumaki, and I was hoping you could handle a request I'd like done? I have the designs here," Naruto pulled out the black book and opened it to the proper page, "but I have no skill in forging and require a skilled hand, preferably the best in the village, to bring it to life. Are you able to help me?" Naruto cocked his eyebrow in curiosity as he waited for the man to speak.

Tsuichi had taken the book from the young Uzumaki and looked at the page he'd turned to. Upon seeing the designs he was taking about Tsuichi's heart nearly stopped.

"T-These designs, w-where did you come up with such an idea? I-If I may be so bold to ask?"

The blonde merely smirked, giving him a wolfish expression.

"I think you and I both know where these designs came from Mr. Nagita. I came to this shop because I felt a...pull when I waked by. Now, make no mistake, this wasn't the first shop I passed. No, there were a handful of others, and I recall feeling a pull towards a few of them, but the feeling I got as I walked by your shop was so strong it nearly caused me to topple over. I knew then that this was the place that would help me begin my ascent to greatness...or was I mistaken?" Naruto ended his response with a slight turning down of his head, his brow furrowed as if in thought, and his eyes taking on a questioning gleam as if he were truly thinking about his decision.

Tsuichi, after hearing Naruto's tale, and knowing how good this opportunity was for him, quickly ate up the bait the blonde had thrown out. "NO! Ahem, I mean, no sir you were not mistaken. I would be more than happy to take on this request for you. It should be ready within the week." That wasn't good enough for the Uzumaki,

"I want it in two days."

"T-Two days!? S-Sir, you must understand, quality work takes time. Especially if you're hoping to wear this into combat."

"Funny, I seem to recall seeing a sign somewhere saying they offered the fastest delivery in town. Hmm, maybe I should go there, I'm sure they could have it done in two days. Heck, they might try to show off and have to me by tomorrow; what do you think?"

Tsuichi understood now. He understood the importance of the items he was being asked to create. These weren't just tools to be used in battle, no, these were a symbol. A symbol that the eagle had risen like a Phoenix from the ashes and was ready to take the world under its wing again. With this in mind, Tsuichi knew only one response was appropriate. He placed his fist over his heart and spoke:

"I fall to command, Imperator."

**xxxxxxx**

_A/N: And there we go. Personally I feel like this one was a little lacking, but I figure you gotta just get those out of the way so you can get to the good parts. The team will be leaving Wave in the next chapter and be returned to the Leaf village. Once there Naruto will begin his physical training to become force to be reckoned with._

_Hinata's part was a little...off to me to be honest. I'm trying to show the depths of her loyalty as well as feelings for Naruto, but I dunno. I think it's because she's still keeping it to herself that's making it difficult. And yet that's what I feel will maker her_ _transition over to Naruto's camp more fun._

_Kurenai didn't get much development here, but she'll be doing some conspiring once she's back in the village._

_Ino has let her curiosity get the best of her and plans to seek out Shikamaru, which will take place next chapter. Shikamaru will become a major player once he truly gets himself involved._

_And Tazuna. He was central to the beginning, but now he'll likely fade into the back, only to be brought up periodically, what'd you guys think of him? I tried to do something I'd never really seen done before by making him such a big influence in events._

_Oh, and the authors note in the book means: Caesar is like a hydra, cut off his head, and many more will just take his place._

_Please review and let me know what you think, constructive criticism is, and always will be, welcome :)_


	4. Secreta Coniurationesque

**Ch. 4- Secreta coniurationesque**

( secrets and conspiracies)

**xxxxxxx**

Naruto and his squad stood at the entrance of Wave, all packed and ready for their return to Konoha.

"We thank you again for your hospitality Tazuna-san, you made our stay here most enjoyable." Kurenai said with sincerity. The quartet had stayed with Tazuna and his family for a week after arriving, but they each knew that after so long away, it was time to return home.

"Think nothing of it, we were more than happy to welcome our hero back-" Tazuna's response was cut off by shouts of "Naruto-sama!"

Looking to the crowd behind them, the huddle of five could see a man pushing his way through the mob of villagers. Naruto noticed that it was Tsuichi.

"Naruto-sama, I-I have the last part of your request," at this, the blacksmith removed a cloth bundle from around his chest and presented it to the blonde that stood before him, "Please, I humbly ask that you accept my apology for being so late with the completion of your order. I h-have no excuse."

Naruto looked down at the man who bowed before him before taking a quick glance at the crowd. Knowing that his reaction would set the pace for his plans for Wave, Naruto decided on how to handle this.

"Whether or not your lateness will be forgiven depends on the quality of what you've brought me. Unfortunately for you, my inspection of your work will be done back in my home. But rest assured, you will be hearing from me soon." With that said, Naruto wrapped the cloth bundle around his chest, tying it in the front and turning away from the man to face Tazuna.

"Where do we stand in regards to what we spoke of the other night?" Naruto questioned softly, so as to avoid letting nosy Jounin overhear.

"It's been started, Naruto, when the first section is complete I will have a messenger bird send word of its completion."

Nodding is approval, Naruto gave one last look at the crowd of people that looked upon him with loyalty and respect.

'_And so it begins'_

**xxxxxxxxx**

The journey back from Wave was significantly faster than the arrival. This was due to the fact that, instead of walking, the squad of ninja were tree hopping.

Upon orders of its Jounin commander.

Kurenai wanted to return to Konoha as soon as possible. After a week of strange behavior including disappearances, secret talks, a complete 180 of attitude, and other strange things, Kurenai had gotten extremely weary of her male charge. Even stranger were the items he now carried with him.

_'When we get there he's got nothing, but when we leave he's got a rucksack __and__ a bundle of cloth; both holding something suspicious no doubt.'_

The problem was, Kurenai couldn't just order Naruto to show her what he'd picked up. She had to have probable cause before commanding another ninja (no matter the rank) to reveal their personal effects on a mission. Which she unfortunately did not have.

She glanced behind her and took stock of the blonde male currently under her care.

Naruto's eyes held a different, sharper light than they had before the trip to Wave. Where there was once warm, sky-blue gems now set two calculating, cobalt stones. Where there was once always a ghost of a smile, now sat...not a scowl, but more of an ever-concentrating look. As if its wearer were in constant thought or observing the world around him. This Naruto Uzumaki Kurenai was bringing back to Konoha was most definitely not the Naruto she'd been joined by in the Hokage's office when they'd been assigned their mission.

Naruto, who had been in deep thought over his final _talks_ with Tazuna, sensed someone watching him and brought his mind back to the present. Without letting her know, Naruto did his own analysis of her.

She'd been weary of him since the first night they'd spent at Tazuna's home, he noticed it during dinner when she'd tried to subtly interrogate Tazuna, as well as himself. While Naruto wasn't sure why the female Jounin was so interested in his affairs he was sure about one thing: He didn't like it.

_'I'll have to be careful for the time being. There's no telling what kind of trouble could be caused if I don't exercise a bit more caution with my plans.'_

Although, Naruto wasn't the only blonde on the team in deep thought. Ino stared at the male who ran ahead of her, her thoughts on the subject a swirling mass of confusion.

_'I just don't know what to make of all this! Naruto's acting way weird, Kurenai-sensei's acting weird about Naruto acting weird, and even Hinata's acting weirder than usual! Oh man, it's times like these I wish I had Shikamaru's brain._

Resolving once again to seek out her slacker-genius team-mate upon returning to the village, Ino did her best to push the cluster-fuck of confusing thoughts to the back of her mind and focus on the journey home. It was harder than she thought.

**xxxxxxxxxx**

When the quartet of ninja reached the front gate of their home, three of the four ninja had to reign in their anxiousness to enter the village and begin their personal "missions." Hinata was not one of those three.

Hinata had dreaded coming home, because that meant going back to the Hyuga compound and dealing with the harsh, cold mannerisms of her "family." Her depressed thoughts were broken by her sensei's words.

"Alright team, I'll go and give the mission report to Lady Tsunade, the rest of you are free to go." Hinata, seeing no way out, drooped her head and began to walk in the direction of her home. However, her departure was halted when another voice, a male voice, called out to her:

"Hey, Hinata, do you have some time to talk with me tomorrow? There are some things that I really want to talk to you about. Is that okay?" Hinata almost couldn't believe her ears! Her Naruto-kun wanted to talk with her.

But this didn't sit well with Kurenai.

The genjutsu mistress didn't trust having this new Naruto around her student. Hinata's frightening level of feelings for the blonde, coupled with Naruto's new silver tongue were a dangerous combination.

"Hinata, don't forget we have team training tomorrow. Don't you think afterward you should relax, because it sounds like Naruto wants to have a pretty deep discussion and I'm not sure you'll have the energy for such a thing once we've finished." Kurenai hoped that her words would cause the girl to consider turning down the offer.

Her hopes were dashed.

"I don't see the problem Kurenai-sensei, are you saying Hinata doesn't have the fortitude to handle team training as well as a discussion with a friend?" Naruto ended his rebuttal by staring directly into the woman's ruby-red eyes with his own cool, cobalt pair.

A staring contest ensued, but it wasn't just a game, it was a test. Whoever blinked first failed...and Kurenai could feel her eyes start to sting.

She was saved though when Hinata had came to her decision.

"Kurenai-sensei, I-I'll be fine. N-Naruto-kun wouldn't ask to speak with me if it w-wasn't important. And besides, I-I'm not some feeble little girl, I can h-handle team training and then having a deep discussion." Hinata's response started off docile before sounding like someone who'd been offended.

Kurenai picked up on her tone and winced, by trying to protect her student she'd inadvertently hit upon her insecurities and made her feel that to turn Naruto down would make her seem weak. Something Kurenai knew Hinata never wanted to have happen.

_'Damn it, I was so intent on blocking Naruto that I wasn't watching what I said to Hinata. I only hope this doesn't turn out as bad as I think it will.'_

"I'm sorry Hinata, I didn't mean to come out that way. I just want to make sure you're not over doing it." With that, knowing there was nothing else she could say, Kurenai left in a swirl of leaves to report to Tsunade.

Naruto bid Hinata goodbye, with a reassurance that they would talk the following day after her training. Hinata, with nothing left to distract her, finally began the journey home.

None of them noticed that the fourth member of their squad had left immediately after reaching the gate.

**xxxxxxxx**

After being dismissed by Kurenai, Ino swiftly walked off in search of the rest of her assigned team. She first went to their homes, but when she found they weren't there she decided to check the only other spot she knew they frequented.

Upon arrival at the grassy field Ino spotted both of her male team-mates laying in the shade of a big oak tree. _'Well, Shikamaru's laying, Choji's sitting up eating chips.'_

Pushing that thought aside, the platinum-blonde walked over and greeted her two longest friend. "Hey guys, I'm back from my mission. Did anything interesting happen while I was gone, or did the two of you just lay around everyday?" What started off as a polite greeting ended in a snarky accusation.

Shikamaru never sat up, he simply glanced over at the lone female on his team and said:

"Actually Ino, something interesting did happen while you were away", the girls eyes widened in anticipation, "it was so quiet in that me and Choji actually managed to relax while you were gone."

The look of anticipation fell away and was replaced with annoyance at the shadow-manipulators jab. Ino was ready to explode on her team-mates, w had begun to laugh at her, when she suddenly remembered what it was she really wanted to speak with Shikamaru about.

"Hey, Shika, there's actually something I was hoping I could talk to you about. See, while I was on the mission, I started noticing something strange going with Naruto. I talked with Kurenai-sensei about it, since she noticed it too, but I didn't really get an answers from that conversation. And obviously I didn't talk to Hinata about him, she would've been even less help. I figured I would talk to you, and maybe you could help me figure it out."

While Ino stood there waiting for him too reply, Shikamaru was already wondering what Naruto, of all people, could have done to make his female friend so intrigued.

"Well, why don't you start by telling me just what it is that Naruto was doing that's got you coming and interrupting my cloud watching with your troublesome question?"

Ignoring Shikamaru's trademark use of "troublesome" to describe her question, Ino began to tell her two male friends what she'd observed over the trip to Wave: the strange, secret conversations between Naruto and Tazuna(even throwing in the weird talk they'd had in the middle of the street), the way Naruto spoke to Kurenai and how he'd managed to dodge her probing questions. Hinata's increasingly strange behavior, and finally the items Naruto had brought back from the trip.

Throughout Ino's entire retelling of the mission, Shikamaru's mind had been spinning it's wheels trying to come up with an idea of why the things she mentioned had happened. He had a hunch based off what Ino had told him of their first night in Wave, but he didn't want to jump to any conclusions...especially if his hunch proved correct. His thoughts were broken by Ino's shouting.

"Shika, are you even listening to me anymore!"

"-sigh- Not really Ino, I was too busy trying to figure out the answer to your troublesome question. So unless you don't really want my help, I'd appreciate you being quiet for a bit okay?" Ino's mouth clicked shut and her cheeks gained a pink tint to them after hearing Shikamaru's tone.

Shikamaru sat up and entered into his traditional thinking pose.

**xxxxxxxxxxx**

While Ino was working on the "Naruto mystery" from her own angle, Kurenai was currently standing in the Hokage's office speaking with her about it. "The diplomatic mission was a success, we arrived without issue and our time there went smoothly."

Tsunade sat at her desk, fingers steepled in front of her face, and eyebrow raised as she listened to Kurenai report their mission.

Tsunade was a woman who, while in her 50's, was considered on of the most beautiful women in the Elemental Nations. Her straight, blonde hair was tied in two loose ponytails, with bangs framing both sides of her face. She wore a green haori with the kanji for "gamble" on the back over-top a gray, sleeveless, kimono-style blouse which she held closed with a dark-blue obi. Instead of traditional ninja sandals Tsunade wore open-toed, black high heels. On her forehead sat a violet rhombus mark. However, her most recognizable feature was her breasts, Tsunade was owner of one of the largest pair in the Elemental Nations.

"You say everything went well, and yet I can sense the tension in your body. Heck, I can practically see it; what's got you so wound up?"

Kurenai visibly flinched at being called out on her anxiousness, she thought she had done well at hiding it. While she had intended to speak with the Hokage about Naruto, she had hoped to do so in a more relaxed state. _'I guess __that's__ not happening.'_

"Well, Lady Tsunade, there were some strange incidents that took place during the mission and I was hoping to speak with you and get your opinion on them. However, considering the subject involved in these incidents I wasn't sure how to broach speaking with you." At this Tsunade raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Am I correct in guessing that this...subject is Naruto?" Seeing the Jounin flinch was all the answer she needed. "Kurenai, if it involves Naruto in any way don't ever be afraid to come to me. If there's a problem with him I would want to solve it immediately, because even if I don't say it, that knucklehead's important to me."

"Actually, Lady Tsunade that's part of the reason I found it so hard to discuss this with you," Kurenai began, "Naruto was acting very...strange during the entire length of the mission. He was a complete 180 from what one would expect from him, he was like a totally different person Milady."

"So, what you're telling me is, instead of being hyperactive, loud, and everything else we know the shrimp to be, Naruto acted like a competent ninja should?" Kurenai could hear the underlying question in her Hokage's tone-

_'Why are you questioning a miracle?'_

"Lady Tsunade I know how it sounds, but you didn't experience it, this Naruto wasn't just acting as a competent ninja, he was acting...like a leader." This sparked Tsunade's interest, and she asked her Jounin to explain herself.

**xxxxxxxxxxxx**

While Kurenai and Ino tried to decipher the "new Naruto", the subject of their mystery was on his way home.

_'If I'm right, Ino and Kurenai-sensei should be talking with Tsunade-bachan about my change. Ha, well go ahead and let her, she has no real understanding of what's __really__ going. Nor does she have the foresight to see what's coming. But I can't do it alone, I'll need help, and I'll start tomorrow with Hinata._

Coming out of his thoughts,Naruto realized he'd made it to his apartment building. Walking up the steps the blonde traversed the familiar, silent halls of doors until finally coming to the room he'd been given.

Entering into is apartment Naruto took notice that nothing had been defaced while he was gone, _'This time'_, and made his way to his bedroom.

Naruto walked over to his bed,and sat the rucksack down on the mattress before removing the cloth bundle from around his chest and setting it beside it on the bed. First, he opened up the pack and began to pull out the first part of his order—his armor.

Naruto's armor was an almost exact replica of the armor he'd seen in his dream and in the temple, only this set was fitted to his smaller stature, _'Something I'll have to rectify quickly'. _Piece by piece he removed the armor: the steel grieves for his shins, the leather Pteruge for around his waist, a steel Cuirass with leather lappets at the shoulders and leather shoulder-pads, the last piece of metal he pulled from the pack was an officer's helmet with red horse-hair running from front to back.

After setting aside the armor, Naruto reached back inside and removed: a set of leather wrist bracers, a blood-red tunic to be worn under the armor, a focale(scarf) to be worn so he could avoid chaffing from the Cuirass rubbing against his neck, and at the bottom,sat a pair of leather boots. These were all hung up in his closet and his armor was left on the bed until he could get a mannequin to set it up on.

With his wardrobe pulled from the rucksack, Naruto opened two other pockets and pulled out a set of books from each; Caesar's military journals. And finally, from out of his jacket pocket, he pulled the lineage log.

After stashing his books in his dresser Naruto turned to the bundle of cloth still wrapped up on his bed. This was the second part of his request to Tsuichi.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Ino and Choji had been watching their third team member for over twenty minutes, after the first five Ino had decided to sit down. They'd almost assumed he'd fallen asleep,and were about to shake him, when Shikamaru's eyes flew open. Ino was the first to react.

"So, what'd you figure out?"

"...nothing" Shikamaru grumbled out, obviously upset he wasn't able to solve the mystery.

"What do you mean nothing!? How can you have no idea about why Naruto's acting so weird?" Her accusatory tone irked the Nara.

"I have no idea because not only did you not give me enough information, I wasn't there to experience this "new" Naruto, okay?"

Ino was definitely **not **okay. If her brainy team-mate couldn't tell her what was going on, then she felt she was doomed to never know. And Ino Yamanaka hated not knowing something.

_'I may just have to take a more hands-on approach to this mystery.' S_he thought. But her idea was quickly put to grass.

"Ino don't even think about it. If Naruto's really just done a complete 180, I don't think it'd be a good idea for you to go snooping around. There's no telling how he'd react...I'll do it." This caused the Yamanaka heiress eyes to widen.

"You!? Since when do you do recon Shikamaru?"

"Well normally I don't, but considering the circumstances, I'm the only one who can. This new Naruto sounds like he's got some skill I wordplay, so the person investigating him as to be able to keep up. And out of the three of us I'm the only one who could...no offense Choji." The aforementioned boy threw out a "none taken".

With that said, Shikamaru stood up, dusted himself off, and walked off in search of Naruto.

**xxxxxxx**

"So you see Lady Tsunade, I'm not sure what to make of this new Naruto. Normally his change in attitude would be considered a good thing, but the suddenness as well as the secretive way he's been acting, even towards comrades, is a little off-putting Milady."

For the past few minutes Kurenai replayed all of Naruto's strange behavior to the women who sat in front of her, in hopes of making some kind of sense out of the blondes strange behavior.

"Well Ms. Yuhi that's some interesting information you've given me. However, again, I can't give my sound opinion because I have yet to witness Naruto's change first hand. But rest assured, I plan to call him in, as I have things I need to speak with him about and after I get a read on his new attitude I will let you know my thoughts. How does that sound?"

Kurenai, although not entirely happy with the outcome, understood that it was the best she was going to get. So with a "Thank you", Kurenai turned, and exited Tsunade's office.

Tsunade sat in her chair, fingers once again steepled in front of her face, and asked her ANBU hiding in the shadows to leave her to her thoughts. Once they were gone, she spoke:

"So, what do you think about what Kurenai said...Jiraiya?"

Out from the shadows a tall man with a mane of white hair fazed into sight. Jiraiya was, like Tsunade, a member of Konoha's 'Legendary Sannin'. He was a tall man, standing about 6ft tall. His snow-white hair was as long as the man was tall, the majority of it being held in a ponytail. He was dressed in a short-sleeved, olive-green kimono top with matching pants. Underneath this he wore mesh body armor that showed out of the sleeves of his shirt and legs of his pants. Over-top of this he wore a red haori. Instead of a traditional forehead protector, his had a horn on either side and the kanji for "oil" in the center. Also, instead of traditional ninja sandals, the Sannin wore red geta.

"Well Tsunade-hime, I'm in the same boat as you in this matter. I'd have to experience it firsthand. But from the tone of your Jounins voice this change in attitude should be watched closely, do you know where the kid is now?" Tsunade shook her head.

"Unfortunately no, at the moment I have no idea where he is. I guess the first place to look would be his apartment, and if not there then the ramen stand he frequents...other than those two places I'm not sure where else he'd be."

Jiraiya took all this in and told Tsunade he'd personally keep an eye on their godson. Then, silently, he made the decision to have some of his spy network go over to Wave country, and see if they could find .

**(I know this wasn't much of a conversation) I just wanted to open the door for Jiraiya to come in to play for later)**

**xxxxxxxx**

Naruto slowly unwrapped the bundle of cloth, his heart beginning to pick up speed at the anticipation of seeing his final gift. He was not forced to wait long. Once fully unwrapped, Naruto stared down at the weapon nestled on the bed of silk. His very own gladius.

The blade itself was only about 2ft. in length, its body double-edged with a triangle tip. Along its outer edge was the inscription: VENI, VIDI, VICI. Which Naruto learned meant: I came, I saw, I conquered. _'And conquer I shall.'_ Naruto thought as he turned is eyes down to look at the hilt.

The hilt was made of ivory, with indents for the fingers for better grip, while the pommel as well as the guard were made of hardwood. It truly was a masterpiece. Next his eyes landed on the smaller blade next to it: the Pugio(dagger)

The Pugio's blade held more of a curve than the gladius, and was about half its length, but that didn't make the side-arm any less dangerous. Naruto remembered when he'd first decided to have them fashioned.

**FLASHBACK-**

_Naruto stood staring at the blacksmith in front of him. __After making his request Naruto had returned the very next day to check on its progress. He was unprepared for what awaited him._

_He walked into Tsuichi's shop, the sound of hammer meeting metal the first thing to greet is ears._

_He walked to the back of the shop, behind the bamboo curtain-style door, and was then greeted with the sight of his chosen blacksmith pounding away at a slab of hot metal laying on top of an anvil, 'How stereotypical' Naruto thought to himself._

_Naruto waited patiently for the man to finish, so as not to distract him from his work. Once Tsuichi placed the metal into the tub of water and placed it back on the anvil the blonde spoke up._

"_It's nice to see you hard at work Tsuichi-san." The sudden extra voice visibly startled the man._

" _Ah! Imperator, forgive me for not noticing your presence earlier, if I had, I would have surely stopped to attend you."_

"_Your apology is not needed, I stood by so as not to disturb you while you worked. After all, how would you be able to finish on time if I interrupt you in the middle of your work? Speaking of which, how are you coming along?"_

_Tsuichi swallowed the lump in is throat before answering._

"_I-It's coming along rather quickly Imperator, I have no doubt that I will be able to finish it all in the allotted time."_

_Naruto took these words in with great satisfaction and was unable to hide it, 'Something I will no doubt need to work on' he thought. Naruto had come to the conclusion that he'd need to learn how to keep his emotions in check if he wanted to bring honor to the name 'Caesar'._

_Naruto had been so deep in his self-beating tat he almost missed Tsuichi speaking with him._

"_Excuse me, Imperator-" Naruto stopped him, "Naruto-sama, that is how you will address me for now, I do not yet have the standing to be considered your Imperator."_

"_Ah, f-forgive me. As I was saying, Naruto-sama, do you have your weapons forged yet?" This threw Naruto for a loop._

_Naruto had not actually given thought to weapons, but thinking about it now he realized something. If he wants to resurrect the Roman empire, and honor his ancestor, Naruto would have to do it right. That meant no jutsu, just pure military might—and that meant weapons._

"_As a matter of fact, no, I hadn't even thought of weapons Tsuichi. But now that you've informed me, would you be up to the task of making those weapons for me?"_

_Tsuichi again saw the underlying meaning behind this request. The weapons he would forge for the blonde in front of him would be the same one's used to carve out the first steps of the new world. _

"_O-of course, Naruto-sama, a-although it will take me considerably longer than two days due to the wait that will come with ordering the necessary metal, as well as material for the hilt."_

_Naruto stood there,arms crossed in front of his chest, and thought of what he'd just been told. On the one hand he did require the weapons, but on the other hand he wasn't sure of how long he would be staying._

"_About how long would these materials need to get here, and then how long would you take to make the weapons?"_

"_Well, the materials would take about three to four days after I've ordered them, and then to craft the weapons will be about another two days Naruto-sama."_

_Seeing no real way to speed up the process, Naruto was forced to accept to terms and allow Tsuichi to return to his current task of forging Naruto's armor._

_With the placement of his unexpected addition to his order finished, Naruto turned and exited the shop and returned to Tazuna's home where he would go up to his room and read through the first military journal._

**_-END FLASHBACK_**

When Naruto had arrived at the bridge ready to depart from Wave, he'd almost thought Tsuichi had been unable to finish his request on time. But now, looking at the craftsmanship of the weapons, and the ornate design of his daggers sheath, Naruto managed to forgive the blacksmith for his tardiness...this time. Quickly writing a letter that he'd send back to the man later, Naruto then contemplated how to spend the next part of his day.

Deciding he wanted to get a feel for his new tools, Naruto removed his thick orange jacket, leaving him in his blue shirt,and strapped the blades to his body, the gladius strap going across his chest with the blade hanging off his right hip, and the Pugio sheathed at his left hip; its strap around his waist like a belt.

After finishing getting ready, Naruto set up some clones to watch his house, and set off on his way towards the training fields.

**xxxxxxxxx**

Naruto calmly made his way to the training field, practicing his "Roman swagger" as he went. His right hand rested on his sword pommel while his left, clutched into a fist, swung lightly as he walked; his strides holding purpose as Naruto held his head high, back straight, and chest out*. While the blonde made his way through the village streets he began to feel like he was being watched.

Turning a corner Naruto stopped, turned around, and waited for his "shadow" to follow after him. He did not have to wait long, within minutes a small body collided into Naruto's chest. Looking down the blondes cobalt eyes were greeted by a head of spiky, brown hair held back by a set of green goggles.

It was Konohamaru.

Konohamaru looked up and, to his surprise, was greeted by the face of his "boss". The academy student had thought he was doing well in tailing his mentor...but apparently not well enough.

"Uh, hey boss, I-I see you're back from your mission. How'd that go anyway?" Naruto, on the other hand, was not amused.

"What do you want Konohamaru? I'm about to head to the training field, so I don't have time to play today."

Konohamaru shook his head, "I wasn't gonna ask you to come play boss, I was gonna see if you had any time to train me. Maybe show me another jutsu?" The boys eyes held a look of hope, as well as fear that his idol would decline.

Naruto thought about, and at first was going to decline, but then saw the possibilities behind teaching his "student" the way of the Roman, as well as the new "way of Naruto".

_'This has the potential to be __very__ rewarding.'_

"Alright Konohamaru, you can come to the training field with me, but only if you're willing to take this seriously. If I feel that you aren't trying your hardest I'll send you home, understand?"

So the two continued their trek to the training grounds, this time side by side. As Naruto continued to practice his "Roman swagger" the young pre-genin at his side took notice, and tried to imitate his idol. Said idol took notice and smirked inwardly to himself.

_'This is already looking promising.'_

Soon they arrived and Naruto began some basic stretches. Once again, Konohamaru copied his teacher and attempted the stretches.

After loosening up Naruto decided it was time to begin. First, he unsheathed his side-arm and tossed it at the young boys feet. Then he drew his gladius and spoke.

"Pick that up, I'm beginning to learn kenjutsu and I figure it wouldn't hurt for you to have another skill under your belt before you graduate."

Konohamaru did as instructed, although with the Pugio being heavier than a standard kunai, it was accomplished with difficulty. Once it was successfully pulled from the ground the boy looked to his mentor for further guidance...what he saw confused him.

Naruto had settled into a bizarre sword stance. His body was turned, with his head turned towards his opponent. His arms were raised to the side of his face and his blade was directed at the opponent in front of him.*

"I hope you're ready, because my first lesson is: Don't ever hold back, you must press attack until you've won."

**xxxxxxxxxx**

**_A/N: Well there it is. I've brought in new players to the game who will soon either join Naruto in his conquest, or be put to grass by his sword. Speaking of swords, Naruto is beginning his training to become a powerful force to be reckoned with. _**

**_Jiraiya's spy network will open up another door that will lead to more rules to the game. What side of the board Tsunade will play on isn't certain yet, but Jiraiya's is._**

**_Not a whole lot of Hinata in this chapter, but she'll have a decent part next chapter._**

**_Ino has introduced Shikamaru's piece into the game, and his first play will be done next chapter. His part in the story will be particularly fun. _**

**_1_****_st_****_ *_ War of the Damned episode 3 has the best example of the "Roman swagger" I can think of. It's about 1/3 of the way into the episode, you see Caesar walking through the Roman encampment. While he's holding his helmet in that episode just imagine the hand on the sword._**

**_2nd*_ Again, the best example of this can be seen in an episode of War of the Damned, this time episode 5 basically at the very end of the episode._**


	5. Gladius ad praxim et politics

**Ch.5- ** **Gladius ad praxim et politics**

(sword practice and politics)

**xxxxxx**

Konohamaru stood there, unsure of what to do in the face of his mentor's battle stance.

"What did I say, always press attack!"

Hearing his instructions again, this time the academy student charged at his idol, hands raised above his head and his sword leaning back towards the ground due to gravity. When he got within striking distance he began to pull the blade forward, but was forced to jump to the side in order to avoid the jab Naruto sent at his face.

Unfortunately, the weight of the pugio threw off his center of gravity, and Konohamaru was sent tumbling onto his backside. This left him unprepared for the foot that came down at him, leaving Konohamaru just enough time to throw up his arms in an X-block and wind up on his back. When the boy opened his eyes he was met with the tip of Naruto's gladius, and cobalt eyes gleaming with disappointment.

"That...was awful. Konohamaru, don't ever charge at your opponent like that. As you just experienced it leaves you extremely vulnerable, and just as bad, leaves you off balance. Your next mistake: don't ever let go of your weapon, because if you do...you're dead." Hearing these harsh words from his idol made the young academy student lower his head in shame.

"I-I'm sorry boss, I wasn't thinking," at this he turned his eyes up at his mentor and pleaded, "p-please, don't make me go home! I'll get it, I promise, just give me another chance!" Seeing his student so dedicated to learning, and making Naruto proud, made the blonde reconsider his earlier thought of actually sending the kid home.

"Alright, you get one more chance to prove that you're serious about this. If you do well then your training will continue, if not, then don't ever broach the subject wit me again." Konohamaru's eyes filled with hope, and then steeled in determination at his mentors final words.

_'I can't afford to mess up again!'_

Getting back on his feet, the boy picked the pugio up and returned to his starting position. This time, instead of rushing in, Konohamaru entered into the same stance he'd seen his teacher in moments before. However, when he went to pull his blade parallel to his face, he could feel his arms shake underneath the unusual weight; but he forced himself to hold firm and not look weak in font of Naruto.

So there the two stood, staring each other down and waiting to see who'd make the first move. Again, Konohamaru struck first, but this time far less recklessly.

He brought his sword down and broke into a run. When he felt close enough he performed a ground-roll, and when he returned to his feet, swung out at Naruto's right leg. But Naruto, acting on reflex, lifted his leg and avoided the attack, and then once again swung out with his leg and this time managed to connect with the boys cheek.

Konohamaru was sent rolling from the kick, but managed to get a hand flat on the ground, and pushed himself into an uneasy kneeling position. However, he didn't get to re-balance himself as his mentor was already upon him, sword coming down in a horizontal slash. Konohamaru was the one to act on instinct this time as raised the pugio up and tried to block.

Tried, because the blade was swiftly knocked from his hand, before he was met with a viscous back-fist that sprawled him out on the grass.

Quickly setting aside the throbbing pain in his jaw, Konohamaru sat up on his knees, and searched for his weapon. When he didn't see it he looked to his teacher. Naruto stood now with his gladius returned to its sheath and his side-arm clutched at his side in a reverse grip. He also wore a small smile on his face aimed, directly, at Konohamaru.

"You did...better. When I was harsh before you must understand, while I don't expect you to be a match for a member of the ANBU on your first practice, I still expect a degree of focus and levelheadedness that you did not show the first round" Konohamaru visibly winced at the mention of his first attempt. "But, the second time around I noticed you adopted my defensive stance, as well as thought out your plan of attack before engaging me."

Hearing the praise of his mentor and role model, the academy students face split into an ear-to-ear smile...before swiftly returning to normal, and Konohamaru's hand reaching up at his newly-bruised face. Tears started to well in his eyes, but the boy forced them back so as to again avoid looking weak in front of Naruto.

Konohamaru's actions did not go unnoticed. Naruto saw that the boy had tried multiple times during the course of their training session to keep up a strong and devoted front; something the blonde felt would come in handy, and as something he could use to help the boy become stronger. For now though:

"Hey, Konohamaru, how about you and I go and get something to eat? As a reward for doing so well during our second go-around, you can choose where we eat."

Konohamaru, although excited at the prospect of eating at his favorite restaurant, decided that he'd rather have a different reward, "Uhm, as much as that would rock boss, could I maybe...use my reward to have us keep training?"

The boys request shocked Naruto at first, but then he realized that he'd just found a very useful asset. "Well, if that's what you want, sure. Like I said, I'm new to this as well, and I need all the practice I can get right now so it'll be good to at least get a feel for handling my blade." This brought on a question that Konohamaru had kept in the back of his mind:

"Hey boss, what kind of sword is that? I don't think I've seen, or learned about it."

"Well, this is called a gladius, and you've never seen one because they aren't used anymore. And you haven't learned about them because the academy doesn't cover any history of before the Sage of Six Paths. It's sad really, so much great history swept aside because it doesn't involve flashy jutsu or funny looking eyes."

Hearing his teacher speak that way about jutsu was mind-boggling for the young Sarutobi, due mostly in part to the fact that the very first jutsu Konohamaru ever perfected was one taught to him by the blonde standing before him! "Uh, boss, why are you being so down about jutsu's when you're the one who taught me the first one I've ever got right?"

Naruto balked, he'd forgotten about that jutsu. _'Well, no time like the present to fix that little problem.'_

"Konohamaru, I need to ask you to do something for me, okay?" The kid nodded and motioned for Naruto to continue, "I need you to never use the {_Sexy-Jutsu} _again, understand?"

Konohamaru didn't understand.

"B-But boss, why not!? That jutsu is probably one of the best ever created, you said it even managed to defeat my grandfather! And besides, isn't the {_Sexy-Jutsu} _ one of your trademarks as a ninja?" Hearing that last part made a shiver of displeasure run up Naruto's spine.

"Konohamaru, listen, I'm asking you not only as your friend but as your teacher, don't use that jutsu again. I'm starting to take my responsibilities seriously, and I want you to do the same thing, because I want you to be the best person qualified to replace me after I become Emper—er, I mean, when I become Hokage. Do you understand now?" The boy gave a reluctant nod of understanding before his eyes brightened again in hope:

"So can we go back to training now, huh, can we? I know I sidetracked us with my question but I really wanna learn swordsmanship boss." Chuckling at his students zest for more training, Naruto nodded and after handing back the pugio, ordered his student to return to his original spot and get ready for more.

Neither one noticed the two sets of eyes on them.

oo0oo

Jiraiya sat shocked.

The Toad-Sannin's eyes couldn't believe what they were seeing, _'So this is the new Naruto? It's unreal, just a few weeks ago he'd be using the {sexy-jutsu} to get me to train him, and now he's telling Sarutobi-sensei's grandson never to use it again. And on top of that, what's with the new attitude? I mean sure, I can still see traces of the old Naruto, but is this what Yuhi-san meant when she was talking about Naruto?'_

Jiraiya wasn't entirely sure what to do with this new information. Without the input of knowledge his spy network would get from Wave in a few days, the Sannin was left with an incomplete picture.

_'And then there's those strange weapons and fighting stance. The kid said that the weapons are from the time before the Sage, so maybe the stance is as well. I think, if I could get more information on the weapons and the stance, I might be able to put together more of this puzzle. And what was with that slip up earlier, what was he about to really say?' _With that thought, the Sannin disappeared in a swirl of leaves to report back to Tsunade.

Shikamaru's ears and eyes must have been deceiving him, because there was no way that the blonde practicing in the training field was the Naruto he'd met back in the academy!

Naruto was parrying blows, side-stepping slashes, and just using a sword in a way he'd never expected the clumsy Uzumaki capable of. Sure he wasn't perfect, but the natural talent was clear to see. Shikamaru had gone from Naruto's house immediately to the training grounds with the original goal being, to skip straight to the end of his search and just try again tomorrow, but he never thought he'd encounter something like the spectacle that played out before him.

Like Naruto, Konohamaru also seemed to posses a natural talent for swordplay, as he performed various ducks and rolls before turning them into deadly slashes and even upward thrusts. But it was obvious that, due to his young age, he'd have some catching up to do if he wanted to be considered a competent sword user.

_'But still, the fact that both of them posses such skill _ _already is mind-boggling.'_And then the Nara recalled what he'd originally been sent out to investigate.

_'Ino was right, Naruto's almost a completely different person now. I mean sure, he's still got some of that old "academy Naruto" in him, but not to the point anymore where it'd be considered annoying. In fact, I'd be hard pressed not to call it...charismatic. I still don't have enough information, like what he and Tazuna spoke of or where he spent most of his time on the mission. And then to top it off, he's using some ancient weapons and an unknown kenjutsu stance. I think if I can learn about those it'll give me an idea of what went on in Wave, and more importantly, what sparked this new attitude.'_

Putting such questions aside, the Nara heir returned his eyes to the spar in front of him.

oo0oo

Naruto stood, gladius at his side, and stared across the field at his sparring partner.

Konohamaru stood on shaking legs, pugio held firmly in his hand. The boy was covered in bruises, grass and dirt stains littered his clothes, and a rivulet of dried blood hung out the corner of his mouth. He'd taken more hits than he'd managed to give, but at this thought he smiled, _'But I did manage to get in some hits'_

True to form, Naruto had shallow cuts on both legs and even a relatively nice one on his right arm; due to the blonde being unprepared for an assault above his stomach: Naruto had returned to his ready stance, eyes following Konohamaru as the boy paced from side to side, looking for an opening and thinking about his plan of attack. 'As he should be.' Naruto noticed a change in his students eyes and tensed his muscles in anticipation for his attack. Moments later his readiness was rewarded. Konohamaru noticed a slight glaze in his mentors eyes, taking this as a sign he'd momentarily dropped his guard, the boy ran in. When he got within correct distance, instead of rolling, Konohamaru shifted his weight to his left foot and jumped with it.

Naruto, who'd been expecting the roll, was surprised when the boy leaped into the air and performed a horizontal slash at his chest. Thinking quickly, and forgetting that he'd forgone wearing his leather bracers, the blonde raised his arm and parried the blow. He followed this with a swift punch to the back of Konohamaru's head, and then jumping back to asses the damage. Konohamaru, although now with a face full of grass and dirt, couldn't hold back a smile at surprising his mentor and landing such an attack.

While Naruto thought about his student's clever tactic, across the field the young Sarutobi's mind was on how tired that last assault had made him. Konohamaru decided he would go one more round before calling it quits for the day. _'So I better make this one count!' _The young Sarutobi, deciding on his initial attack-plan, rushed forward to engage his mentor in a final round of swordplay.

He started with a sweep-slash, then, anticipating Naruto's jump back, Konohamaru used the momentum from his spin and turned it into a jab. Naruto parried his jab and struck with his fist, which caught the momentarily off-guard Konohamaru in the cheek. When Naruto went to press his attack with a spartan-kick, the academy student ducked under it and went to graze his mentors unprotected side with his blade. Deciding that he'd done enough for one day, Konohamaru leaped back and dropped to his knees.

Naruto noticed his student retreat and realized he'd had enough for the day. Sheathing his gladius, Naruto walked over to Konohamaru's kneeling form.

"You did well today, I'm proud of you Konohamaru. When we started I wasn't sure if you were going to be able to handle the seriousness of the training, but you surprised me, and I think I'm going to enjoy teaching you." The blondes words made Konohamaru's pride swell and his eyes shine with happiness.

"Do you really mean that boss? I mean, I didn't really do very well, and I kept retreating without ever making you retreat once."

"Hey, that's not important. We're both just starting out so I'm not expecting either of us to be top notch fighters just yet. You managed to hold your own, and even get in a few blows on me, that's what matters right now. And, in time, you will improve and become a force to be reckoned with." Naruto allowed a sincere smile to ghost across his lips, just enough to be noticeable, and said, "Now that training's over, how about we-" the blonde was cut-off by the sound of leaves rustling.

oo0oo

_'Shit, shit, shit! He heard me leaving. Okay, calm down, I'll just make it look like I stumbled on them. It works out I guess, but I really wish our meeting would've been under better circumstances.' _Shikamaru thought as he stood stock-still behind his tree.

After it looked like the two were done training, Shikamaru decided he'd go home and formulate his wordplay strategy when he searched out Naruto the following day...but he'd been too noisy in his retreat. So, the young Nara stepped out from his hiding space and, doing his best to shove away the nervousness, spoke up:

"Hey Naruto, sorry if I was interrupting anything, I was just trying to find you so I could ask you about your mission to Wave."

_'Why did I just say that!?' _The Nara heir thought in a panic.

Naruto's cobalt eyes hardened at the sound of the other boys statement, "Why do you wanna ask me about my mission? I don't remember you ever being interested in anything I've done before, so why now, what made this...particular mission so..._interesting_?" The blonde wasn't sure, but he thought he saw a bead of sweat roll down Shikamaru's face.

_'-sigh- I might as well tell him. Damn it all, how could I let myself be caught off-guard like this?'_

"Well, Ino was going on and on about how you apparently have your own bridge, with statues and everything, and how nice the place looked now. I found it a little hard to believe, you know how Ino is, so I figured you'd be the best person to ask about whether what she said was true or not."

Naruto stared into his fellow graduates eyes for what seemed like an eternity, his cobalt gaze searching, looking for the real reason for Shikamaru's visit. While he found..._something_, he couldn't fully identify it before Konohamaru spoke up:

"Uh, boss, we can go get food tomorrow if it's okay. My mom probably wants me home, I didn't exactly tell her where I was going today. And besides, you should catch up with your friend." Konohamaru began to exit the training ground, stopping to find out what time he should show up tomorrow, then continued on his way home. Now the two ninja were alone.

Shikamaru felt uncomfortable standing there alone with Naruto. Had this been a number of weeks ago, the Nara was sure this feeling wouldn't exist, but now, he wasn't sure just what it was he was dealing with.

Naruto, on the other hand, recognized the opportunity that he'd just been presented. With Konohamaru gone, Naruto was now able to jump ahead with his plans. After readying himself, Naruto spoke:

"Shikamaru, I know why you're really here." The aforementioned boys eyes widened in shock, "Ino told you about my...strange behavior in Wave, and you wanted to see for yourself. It's okay ya know, I just wish you'd been more straight forward with me."

Naruto's tone, as well as his understanding for Shikamaru's spying surprised the young clan heir. He'd been expecting harsh words and icy stares, but instead he was presented with the man before him. _'Well, Ino was right about one thing, Naruto's __definitely__ changed.'_

"N-Naruto, if I offended you, I didn't mean it. It's just that Ino was wouldn't stop talking about how strange you'd been acting, and then she said she was gonna come and question you, but since I wasn't sure how you'd react I told I'd come and talk to you. Naruto, I'm not judging you or telling you to go back to how you were, I'm just...curious." Shikamaru had never been in this position before, and so he was unprepared to handle it.

Naruto was calm on the outside, but inside the "wolf" was snarling: _'Ino, that nosy bitch! I was so focused on throwing off Kurenai-sensei that I forgot about Ino and her habit of sticking her nose in other peoples business. Damn it all, how could I have been so __stupid**! **__My plans haven't even had time to begin and already I'm going to have to deal with a loose end. I'm just lucky it's only Ino, she'll be easy to handle.' _Making plans to _handle_ his fellow blonde later, Naruto returned his attention to his current predicament...getting Shikamaru on his side.

"Shikamaru, like I said, it's okay. I understand you're just looking out for a friend, and why wouldn't you? Ino's such a nice, smart, beautiful girl, and I know you'd never want anything bad to happen to her; even if it was just a scolding for her nosy tendencies. But rest assured, I have no plans to harm or be aggressive towards your team-mate."

Hearing this put the young chunin's mind more at ease, but was still curious about a few things, so he decided to broach the subject: "I'm glad to hear that. I've been meaning to ask, Naruto, what's up with the new weapons?"

"Well, I picked them up when I was in Wave country on that mission. The longer blade on my right hip is called a gladius, and this shorter one on my left hip is known as a pugio. Both are from a time before the Sage of Six Paths, when people fought with real skill and not just flashy jutsus; but you already knew that part...didn't you? Shikamaru, if you actually want to know about my weapons all you have to do is ask, I won't lie to you."

Although Naruto didn't actually know that Shikamaru had been watching him, the blonde took a gamble and watched to see the chunin's reaction. He wasn't disappointed.

Shikamaru visibly flinched, _'I thought he hadn't noticed till just a few minutes ago', _and spoke up: "You're right Naruto, I should have just asked, can you tell me a little more about them? Like where their from maybe?"

_'Bingo, there's the question I've been waiting for.'_

"It's okay Shikamaru. These weapons are from an ancient empire known as Rome, although, Rome itself was just a small city, but it grew into an empire by annexing other cities and villages. The gladius was the main weapon of choice for their soldiers, while the pugio was the side-arm. The gladius was mainly a thrusting weapon but could be used to slash as well. Apparently, Rome became one of the small Elemental Countries after the Sage came along and introduced chakra; Whirlpool, I think the name was."

Something about the name "Whirlpool", clicked in Shikamaru's mind. Although not entirely sure where he'd heard it, the shadow-manipulator was positive he had. _'I'll go and talk to dad about it, I think I've got enough information to start putting together this puzzle.'_

"Well Naruto, thank you for alleviating my worries about Ino, and for telling me as much as you did. I know you didn't have to, and it's nice to know you trust me with stuff like this. Unfortunately, I have to get going, otherwise I run the risk of angering my mother; I was supposed to help care for the deer today." Naruto nodded in understanding.

"It's fine Shikamaru, you go ahead, I have some other things I need to do today. And in regards to the information, I know I can trust you with it." With another nod, Shikamaru turned and exited the training grounds, completely missing the sly smile that slipped in to place on Naruto's face.

oo0oo

Shikamaru's mind was a storm of questions.

After leaving Naruto at the training ground, the young chunin's mind had been plagued by questions about just what all the information, along with Naruto's new attitude, could mean. Knowing that he was still at a disadvantage without knowing what Naruto found on his mission to Wave, Shikamaru decided the only real option was to speak with his father about Whirlpool, and hopefully, Rome.

_'But Naruto said he trusted me, so doesn't that mean going to my dad with this information is a violation of that trust? Or maybe, he meant it in that he trusted me not to give out this information to just anyone; like Ino or even Choji.'_ His resolve re-strengthened, Shikamaru continued on through the village, and headed home, _'Where I hope I can get some more answers'_

Shikamaru walked into his home and was met with a common sound...his parent's arguing. Rather than sit and wait for something that could take hours, the young shadow-manipulator walked into his living room and interrupted his mothers tirade:

"Hey, dad, I need to talk to you. I've been given some..._interesting_ information, and was hoping you could help me sort through it?" Shikaku Nara was an almost, older, copy of Shikamaru. The only real difference being the scars on his face and the facial hair he had on his chin.

"Uh, sure son, we can go out by the deer and talk." So father and son walked off, leaving an enraged Nara matriarch that both men knew they'd be dealing with later.

Once outside, Shikamaru's stomach began to do flips. He again began again to question whether telling his father was a good idea, but then the thought of leaving the puzzle unfinished goaded the young man into speaking:

"Dad, what can you tell me about Whirlpool country?"

Shikaku, who had been expecting any myriad of things, was unprepared for his sons question. He hadn't been expecting his son to bring up a destroyed old village, and his shock showed in his response. "Why do you wanna know about Whirlpool son? That village has been deserted for years, no one's even set foot on its soil since the country itself was destroyed."

"I'm curious because I talked with Naruto today and he'd mentioned it, he also told me that the village also used to be called Rome, which had been a vast empire back before the Sage of Six Paths introduced chakra to the world."

Now Shikakau's interest had really been struck. How had Naruto learned of his mothers home, and more importantly, how had he learned of its ancient history?

"Shikamaru, how did Naruto come across this knowledge exactly? I know they only mention the Land of Whirlpools in passing at the academy, and there aren't any books about it in any of the libraries, so where did young Naruto learn of the villages existence?"

The Nara heir was a little disturbed to know that, not just a single village, but an entire country had been stricken from history. But, knowing that he had to push that information to the side for now, Shikamaru answered: "He went on a mission to Wave country recently, and I guess, he learned of it there. He also returned with some weapons that he says are the same types of weapons those ancient Romans used; a gladius and pugio, I think they were called."

"Really, he had weapons fashioned for himself? Well, Shikamaru, I suppose I can tell you a little bit about what you wanna know. For starters, did you know that the Nara clan is able to trace its roots back to the time of the Roman empire," the young chunin's eyes widened at this, "yep, but we weren't always referred to as 'Nara'. Our house name used to be...Crassus. And one ancestor in particular was extremely well known, his name was Marcus Crassus, and he was a part of something know as the 'Triumvirate', along with two other Romans."

"What's a Triumvirate, and who were the other two members?"

"Well a Triumvirate is a political...power I guess you could call it. As it's name says, it's made up of three men, usually the three most influential men in an area. The Triumvirate I'm speaking of was made up of our ancestor Marcus Crassus, a general by the name of Pompey Magnus, and another man named Julius Caesar."

For some reason, hearing the name 'Caesar' caused a knot to form in the young Shikamaru's stomach.

oo0oo

Ino sat in her parents flower shop, bored to tears. She'd gone home after her talk with Shikamaru and was met by her parents, both looking ready to leave. They told her that she would be responsible for the shop for the rest of the day, as the two of them had work to do; her father in the T&amp;I department, her mother a trip to another village. So, after they left, Ino cleaned up and changed into an orange t-shirt that stopped above her naval along with a pair of white shorts that stopped mid-thigh.

Normally the young kunoichi didn't mind tending the shop, and at times even enjoyed it, but with only a handful of customers that day, and the still unsolved mystery of the new Naruto, Ino wanted to be anywhere but the flower shop. Her attention was then turned to the door as its signal bell rang.

"Hello and welcome to-" The young blonde was silenced by the figure standing at the door: Naruto.

"N-Naruto, what are you doing in a flower shop? Hoping to find a gift for Sakura I suppose?" Her guess was met with a light chuckle.

"No, in fact, I've come to the conclusion that Sakura's not worth chasing anymore. I've actually come by to talk to you, Ino."

Ino was a little unnerved by the tone of her fellow blondes voice near the end of his statement; he sounded...upset? "Listen, Naruto, if you're hear to ask me out I'm gonna-"

Naruto didn't give her the chance to finish, "Why are you snooping around my business Ino," by this time Naruto had locked the door and flipped the 'Open' sign, to 'Closed'. "And don't bother denying it, Shikamaru already gave you up. All I wanna know is, why? If you're not interested in me then I see no reason you'd take such a sudden interest in anything I do." Naruto had rounded the counter by this time, and was backing Ino against the wall; where a tall shelf that stored arrangement displays his the two blondes from view of people on the street.

Ino's face erupted into a fierce blush at how close Naruto was to her. She had put up her hands to stop his advance, and without his bulky orange jacket she could feel his developing muscles, and couldn't stop herself from lightly groping the boys pectoral muscles. In spite of how she acted, Ino had never had any experience with a guy. She tried to look away and put together a believable excuse, but she couldn't pull her eyes away from Naruto's smoldering, cobalt gaze, _'Wait, is his face getting closer!'_

Naruto's face was getting closer. He brought his lips up to the young heiress ear and spoke again: "Ino, you wound me. I'd be more than happy to..._enlighten you, _about not only what I was doing in Wave, but also my new attitude. All I need from you is," Naruto had brought his hands up and was lightly ghosting his fingers up and down her bare sides, "silence. I don't want you running around and telling everybody about what I'm going to tell you alright?"

Naruto pulled away from Ino's ear, but now he was close enough that their noses brushed against one another. He brought his right hand up, the left still occupied with massaging Ino's side, and cupped her face in its palm.

_'H-His hands are so...warm.' _The platinum-blonde didn't know what to do, she felt like she was getting ready to slink to the floor. Naruto's breathe on her ear had caused her knees to shake, the hand massaging her bare side formed a pool of heat in her stomach and a lump in her throat. No longer was she trying to hide her feeling along his torso, her hands had minds of their own. She was drawn from her euphoric feeling by Naruto speaking again:

"We can talk more about this tomorrow, when you won't be so busy." Naruto completely pulled away and began walking towards the door, once he reached it and was about to leave he said: "Oh, and if those lips of yours can't keep quiet, I'm sure we can find _other things_ to occupy their time with." And with that he exited the store and began to walk home.

Back in the store Ino, released from the spell of Naruto's eyes, finally gave up and fell to the floor.

Naruto was extremely proud of himself. He hadn't expected his meeting with Ino to go so well, he'd found another skill he had that he could use to persuade people to his side. After Shikamaru left him at the training ground Naruto had been trying to come up with a way to deal with Ino. Every idea he came up with at first involved intimidation and/or physical harm, but he knew he wasn't well-versed in intimidation yet and any physical means would be noticed by others. He'd almost gotten to the flower shop, and was going to try intimidating her, 'No time to try like the present', when he saw them.

He noticed a young civilian couple standing outside a shop flirting. The boy had his girlfriend held lightly against the store's wall, and was speaking into her ear while lightly kissing and biting her neck. Naruto stood and stared for a moment before a wolfish smile made its way onto his face again. _'I know exactly how to handle this,'_ the blonde thought to himself as he made to enter the shop.

With his problem with Ino handled, Naruto could now go home and focus on how he could put this new skill to use during his _talk_ with Hinata the next morning.

_'Everything seems to be coming together quite nicely'_

oo0oo

The sun rose signaling the start of a new day, and one of the first people up to greet it was Hinata Hyuga.

The young heiress awoke with a smile on her face, the dream she'd had was a very pleasant one. Getting up and stretching Hinata remembered that today she was going to be spending time with her Naruto-kun._ 'I wonder what he wants to talk about?'_

After performing her morning rituals, Hinata exited the clan compound and began walking to her teams training ground. As usual she was the first one to arrive, so she decided to perform some stretches while she waited. As she performed a split, then reached forward to touch her toes, Hinata sensed that she was being watched. Staying in her current position, she activated her byakugan and scanned the area. Hinata quickly turned off her dojutsu and gasped: it was Naruto.

After a short rustling of the leaves, the blue-eyed blonde entered into the clearing and waited for the young kunoichi to face him.

Hinata finished her current stretch and stood to address her Naruto-kun: "G-Good morning Naruto-kun, i-is there something you needed? I was under the impression that o-our meeting would be t-taking place after my morning training."

"It still is, I just wanted to come by before your team got here and see you, if that's alright? I know it sounds strange, but I was feeling...off this morning, and at first, I couldn't understand why. But then I realized what was missing," like with Ino, Naruto had gotten close enough that he was able to wrap his arms around the bluenettes waist. "I hadn't seen you yet. I'd gotten so used to waking up to your beautiful face in the morning during that mission, that I don't think my day will ever be..._right_ again without seeing you."

Hinata's face burned a new shade a red at, not only the close proximity of her Naruto-kun, but also his loving words that were amplified by the heart-stopping look in his eyes. She'd brought her hands up, like Ino had done, and was greeted by the same muscled chest that she'd experienced too. The biggest difference was, Hinata didn't try to hide her explorations.

Naruto felt this, but didn't mind if it helped solidify his hold on the young heiress. His coming out this early was another gamble, _'Something I seem to be doing a lot lately'_, but it seemed to be bearing favorable results.

"While I love that I've gotten to see you this morning, I should get going before your sensei shows up; I don't think she like me very much. But I'll be by again in a few hours to get you, okay?" Hinata, voice failing her, just nodded her head. Naruto decided to leave the girl with something to hang off of, and leaned down to place a kiss on her cheek. Then, the blonde let the girl go and walked off.

Hinata couldn't believe it. Her Naruto-kun had come just to see her, said he "loved seeing her", and even given her a kiss! Sure, it was on the cheek, but it was a kiss none-the-less; he'd even held her in such an intimate position!

Finally, with all the excitement colliding at once, Hinata fainted with a smile on her face.

oo0oo

The rest of Team 8 finally arrived and, after waking Hinata, commenced with their training session. It was quickly learned that a happy Hinata, was a productive Hinata.

Her spars were quick, she defeated both Shino and Kiba swiftly, taking virtually no time at all. This strange increase in skill intrigued Kurenai, she wanted to test the girl herself.

"Alright Hinata, since you've done so well so far, how about you and I spar? I know I usually only spar with Kiba and Shino, but you seem to be on your 'A-game' today and I'd be a fool not to test you at your best. What do you say?"

"That would be great Kurenai-sensei, thank you."

While on the outside Hinata seemed excited, on the inside she was frowning. It was true, Kurenai had sparred solely with her two male team-mates, and any time Hinata asked to spar the genjutsu mistress would say: "I'm not sure you're really up to it yet Hinata, I know you'll hold back, and I don't want to risk seriously injuring you." How was she supposed to get stronger, and show her Naruto-kun her strength, if her teacher refused to help her!?

Hinata walked over to her side of the field and entered into her gentle-fist stance, byakugan eyes blazing.

Kurenai barely had any time to settle into a stance before the young heiress rushed her. Kurenai side-stepped a palm thrust and retaliated with a right cross.

Hinata ducked under her sensei's counter-attack, and spinning on the ball of her foot, sent a roundhouse kick into the red-eyed woman's stomach, sending her back a few steps. Deciding to press her advantage, Hinata once again rushed forward with a palm strike.

Kurenai was shocked when her student managed to evade her attack and then turn it into a counter-attack. Before she could check the damage to her stomach the Jounin was again forced to evade a palm thrust, only this time it was followed up by Hinata taking hold of Kurenai's arm and tossing the women over her shoulder! Again the red-eyed Jounin's eyes widened as she righted herself in the air. Landing on her feet she was given no time to reset herself, because her student was upon her again.

Hinata's heart beat heavily against her ribcage, she was giving everything she had, pushing herself beyond her normal limits in order to do as well as she was. Normally she wouldn't have even landed a hit on her sensei, but today she felt as if she could do anything! When she noticed her teacher righting herself in mid-air, Hinata took off in another sprint, making sure that when Kurenai landed she'd be there to meet her.

Opting for a different approach this time, Hinata dropped to the ground and attempted to sweep her sensei's legs out from under her. It failed though because Kurenai jumped back to avoid it, giving her enough time to yell "Stop".

Hinata lifted herself off the ground and used the reprieve to take deep breaths, trying her best to calm her rapidly beating heart.

What none of them noticed were a pair of cobalt eyes zeroed in on the young Hyuga.

After a few more hours of chakra exercises, some more light sparring, and practicing team strategies, Kurenai realized that there was nothing left she could use to keep Hinata from meeting with Naruto.

"Alright team, training's over for the day. We're going to be taking a mission tomorrow, I've already spoken with Lady Tsunade about giving us an out-of-the-village 'C'-rank mission." Hearing this bit of news caused her female students eyes to widen.

"B-But Kurenai-sensei, you and I just got b-back from one of those. Wouldn't it make more sense for us to take some 'D'-rank missions for a while?" Kurenai raised an eyebrow at this.

In truth, Kurenai had asked for such a mission after deciding that she wanted to keep as much distance as possible between her student and the new Naruto. "While that is technically true, our last mission wasn't really what I would call a real mission; more like a trip. This mission that we're going on is a bandit extraction. You three are going to be performing your first kills."

Her last statement caused all three young ninja's eyes to widen. While they each knew that the day would come where they would have to kill, they were unprepared for it to be so soon.**"**Before any of you speak out let me tell you, I believe that each of you are capable of taking a life."

Hinata was shaking on the inside, she feared not only taking a life, but she also feared messing up and coming home to a disappointed Naruto telling her how useless she was.

After saying another goodbye, and sending her gentle student a reassuring look, Kurenai left in a swirl of leaves. Kiba and Shino, both still shocked to silence by the news, just left without saying goodbye.

Hinata, who was staying behind to wait for Naruto, sunk to her knees and held herself. She tried to pull herself together, not wanting to have her Naruto-kun find her in such a weak state, but she just continued to shiver; eyes wide and glazed over. She was so deep in her thoughts, she didn't realize she was no longer alone until she felt a hand cup her face and she was staring into a set of gentle, cobalt-blue eyes.

"Hinata, hey, what's wrong? Hey c'mon, it's me, Naruto; I had something I wanted to talk to you about remember?"

oo0oo

Naruto had left the training ground like he said, but the blonde had returned shortly after when he knew everyone would be occupied with training, and wouldn't have noticed him.

He watched as his little pet-project dominated her two team-mates, swiftly defeating them as if they were children. Then, he had a front-row seat as Hinata gave her Jounin sensei a run for her money! That, coupled with the girls budding knowledge of medicine, and Hinata was proving that she would become a very useful addition to his army.

When he heard about their mission Naruto ground his teeth in anger. He knew immediately that Kurenai's plan was to separate the two of them**, **she was trying to block all of Naruto's advances. But that anger was swiftly pushed aside when he saw his perfect tool begin to break down. Knowing that he was what she needed right now, Naruto came out of his tree and walked over to her.

oo0oo

Hinata slowly came back to reality. Te first thing she noticed were a set of eyes; eyes that belonged to her Naruto-kun. Suddenly, Hinata couldn't hold it in anymore and she began to cry.

She laid her head on his shoulder and let the tears flow down her cheeks. While she didn't wish to appear weak, Hinata knew she wouldn't be able to make it through their discussion without breaking down. So, she cried into her loves shoulder, gasping when she felt Naruto put his arms around her and cradle the young heiress in his lap.

It was in this position the two of them stayed in for over a half-hour.

When Hinata's tears finally subsided she pulled away from Naruto, and sat on her knees in front of him.

"I-I'm sorry about that N-Naruto-kun, I didn't mean to fall apart on you like t-that, it's just...I'm afraid of messing up on my next mission. Kurenai-sensei w-wants me t-to k-kill, and I'm not sure i-if I can." Naruto nodded in understanding, his mind already figuring out how to turn this into something useful, when he suddenly had an idea.

"Hinata don't even worry about it, I know you'll do just fine. You may not be able to see it, but I can see that you have the resolve to kill. I understand that it'll be hard, but I want you to know that when you come back, I'll personally be here to help you through your trauma."

Hinata felt her heart skip a beat at her Naruto-kun's words, knowing that he was willing to be there for her in such a delicate time made her believe that Naruto really did care!

"Thank you, Naruto-kun. Kurenai didn't say anything other than 'I know you three will be able to handle this', and then just left while giving me this pitying look; as if she already anticipated my failure."

"Listen Hinata, if you don't feel up to having out talk I'll understand. You've just gone through a very rough time and I don't want to push you past your limits. Our conversation can-"

"No, i-it's okay, I'm fine. Please, don't worry about what just happened, I'm sure what you wanted to talk about is important."

Naruto had to hold back his smirk at hearing Hinata's words, he knew that she'd want to still have the talk just to spend more time with him. He decided he could trust her with what he'd learned:

"Okay Hinata, what I wanted to talk to you about, was what I discovered in Wave country."

oo0oo

_A/N: And there's the next chapter. Naruto's discussion with Ino will take place in the next chapter, and then it will become a series of small time skips as Naruto trains his mind and his body to better fit the role of Caesar._

_Speaking of Caesar, I want to say again that Naruto is going to become like the Caesar from Spartacus: War of the Damned, NOT an exact replica of the Caesar from the history books. So if you REALLY want a reference as to how Naruto's character is going to be, watch the show._

_Anyway, Naruto's starting to make gambles(like Caesar was known for) in this chapter, although they are all done in hesitation. But that will subside with time. In case anyone's wondering, Sasuke is still in the hospital from the 'Itachi incident', while Tsunade DID heal him and Kakashi, Sasuke is still bedridden. Not the next chapter, but the one after, Sasuke and Naruto will have their rooftop fight and Sasuke will leave the village; then the Sasuke retrieval mission!_

_Any questions you may have, just let me know and I'll answer them._


	6. Tempore et labore

_A/N: Hey, I wanted to type this chapters out as another way of apologizing(I'm really big on that if I feel like I've wronged someone(s). )Initially, I wasn't actually going to have Temari be a part of his main women, but I talked with someone and was introduced to some ideas I hadn't thought of before. Temari will be Naruto's main wife, but Hinata and Ino will get love too. Hinata's role was honestly always meant to be the "perfect soldier/lover" that served directly beside Naruto, while Ino was going to be a political alliance/lover that was more like a slave. I should have made these two girls roles clear in the beginning, but I thought I was doing a good job of hinting at it...I guess not._

_Another thing I guess I'm not stressing enough is: NARUTO IS GOING TO BE LIKE THE CAESAR FROM WAR OF THE DAMNED! I'm NOT modeling him after the historical figure, and I'm doing the same with Shikamaru as Crassus. So please,if you've never seen the show, watch it so you'll understand more about where the character's are going in terms of personality. _

_And finally, these are the last two "filler" chapters before the Sasuke retrieval. Naruto and Sasuke will do the rooftop battle next chapter, and then Sasuke will leave at the end of it._

**Ch. 6- Tempore et labore**

(Time and effort)

**xxxxxx**

Naruto sat on his bed reading. His jumpsuit replaced by his crimson tunic, his ninja sandals replaced by his leather boots. It had been days since his talk with Hinata, and as he'd hoped, she was completely on board. _'Well, not completely on board.'_ The young blonde remembered how worried his follower had been about his plan backfiring. After telling Hinata of his secret agenda in Wave, Naruto relaid his plan to the devoted Hyuga sitting across from him. He'd informed her that, once he'd become Hokage, he'd work to rebuild the Roman empire. While she seemed content with his overall decision, and was even more pleased by her place in his plan, Naruto could still see a hint of doubt in her lavender eyes. When asked she replied:

_"B-but Naruto-kun, how do you i-intend to resurrect your ancestral homeland? Even when you become H-Hokage the people may not take k-kindly to the changes you'll w-want to make"_

_Naruto just chuckled a bit before answering: "Hinata, that's what I need people like you and Ino for remember? If I get enough council supporters, then I'll be able to pass the laws necessary to begin rebuilding the empire back to its former glory."_

_"I-I guess you're right. I j-just, don't want to see you come close to your dream and fail."_

After Naruto had set his tools mind at ease, he was able to return home to his studies. He had at least a dozen books to work through, and he'd barely made a dent in the first one.

Naruto wanted to punch himself for his stupidity as a child, back when he thought books were useless, when he thought all you needed to be a great warrior and a great leader were flashy moves and "cool lines". What a fool he'd been.

Reading just a third of Caesar's first book made the blonde view himself differently. And while he didn't fully grasp everything the mans words meant, Naruto truly began to understand that his brain was just as powerful a weapon as any jutsu or summoning.

At the moment, Naruto was swept up in a section that spoke of, honestly, what Naruto was currently doing:

"_...I practically strolled right into the jaws of the beast. My mission was clear: Disrupt the rebellion from the inside. I remained unshorn, to better blend in with, what Metellus referred to as, the pack of savage dogs. The fool. Spartacus was no savage dog, but a warrior truly worthy of the legend he carried. He was not just some errant slave. _

_I weaved myself in early by "assisting" Spartacus with dispatching the other Romans who attempted to infiltrate alongside me. _

_After that, I was quickly singled out by the "God of the Arena", Gannicus and asked to "demonstrate" my skills. A well thought plan, but I am not your average Roman, and I would not be fooled. So I gave them just enough to impress, but not so much that they become suspicious. _

_It wasn't long after I was "defeated", that I found myself introduced to a rebel named Nemetes. Now he was truly unworthy of being called "brother." But he served me well in my endeavors, and in the end I gladly made the animal pay for what he did to that woman Fabia. Truly a terrible thing._

_Sad really, how easily I infiltrated the rebel camp, and with but cunning and silver tongue."_

Naruto, having already read of Caesar's interaction with Crassus and their plans understood, in its entirety, the passage he'd just read. Rome had been plagued by a rebellious uprising of slaves, lead by a former gladiator named Spartacus. Caesar, just returning from a campaign abroad, was swiftly retrieved by Marcus Crassus and entered into an alliance with the man, their first task together being the bringing about the end of the rebellion and death of Spartacus.

The passage clearly resembled Naruto's own actions, in that he was turning members of the Leaf village to his whims with just his words alone.

Deciding he'd read enough for that moment, Naruto returned the book to its drawer, strapped on his weapons, and exited his apartment. His destination being the training grounds.

oo0oo

Naruto entered into his chosen clearing and summoned a shadow-clone to spar with. Naruto understood that to truly get better, Konohamaru could not be his true sparring partner.

Both blondes unsheathed their swords and stood in their ready positions. The clone struck first.

The clone began with a horizontal slash, when Naruto parried it, the clone went for an vertical swing; trying to split his creator up the middle. Naruto evaded the attack by hopping backwards and then going on the offensive.

Naruto swung his sword in a ground sweep, hoping to catch his clone in the legs. The clone, however, anticipated this and jumped over the attack, but he was unprepared for the kick that followed and so was hit squarely in the chest and sent staggering back. Naruto tried to follow this up by decapitating his clone, but the look-a-like ducked under the swing and brought his own weapon down, and almost managed to score a blow across Naruto's chest, but the blonde brought his arm up and parried the bow with his bare forearm like he'd done against Konohamaru.

_'I have got to remember to start wearing my leather bracers.' _Naruto thought to himself as he looked over the wound on his arm.

The sound of crunching grass alerted Naruto that his clone was ready for another round. This time the clone started with a jab, and when Naruto parried, the clone used the momentum to bring his sword up for another try at an under-cut. This time Naruto barely dodged the attack by twisting his body to the side. Following up his evasion, Naruto continued the spin, and slammed the flat of his sword into his clones back; causing it to poof out of existence.

Not a moment later Naruto summoned another clone and rushed it.

oo0oo

Naruto walked through the busy streets of Konoha, his destination being the Yamanaka flower-shop.

While he'd told Ino they would talk the same day he spoke with Hinata, he decided instead to let her wait. Naruto wanted her to be on edge, looking over her shoulder as she waited for him to fetch her.

_'I'm really starting to enjoy this' , _Naruto laughed quietly to himself. He chose to forgo changing into his jumpsuit, remembering how Ino had reacted to seeing him without the top, Naruto hoped to use that to his advantage during their _discussion_ today.

It didn't take him long to retrace his steps, and before long he found himself once again standing at the door to Ino's family business. Walking in he was greeted with the sight of Inoichi; Ino's father.

"Hello Mr. Yamanaka, Ino wouldn't happen to be here would she? She and I were supposed to discuss something a few days ago, but I got caught up in some personal matters and was unable to show up. Is she available now?"

Inoichi was a bit skeptical of the blonde in front of him. It wasn't that he disliked Naruto, more rather, the boy had no real relationship to his daughter so what could they have to talk about?

"Actually Naruto, I do happen to know where my daughter is, but, in the years since my daughter's known you I can't recall the two of you ever being very close. What is it that the two of you have to discuss?"

Naruto managed to hold back his flinch, he should have known that the man in front of him was no pushover. Naruto had heard of Ino's father before, a high-ranking member of the T&amp;I department and a master of the human mind. It's no wonder his usual level of "silver speak" wasn't going to be enough to get by Inoichi.

"That's exactly what we're going to talk about. See, we have known each other for a long time, but the two of us have yet to form any kind of friendship. I had been thinking about that while we were in Wave, and I'd decided that Ino and I should rectify our non-friendship. Your daughter seems like a very intelligent girl, one I myself could benefit greatly by knowing, I'm sure there are many things she could teach me that I've missed out on due to my prankster ways back in the academy."

Naruto had thrown in the last bit, about Ino being a resource of knowledge, to help cement his claim of trying to be friends. And because Inoichi seemed like the over-protective father that needed a reason to allow a person to associate with his daughter.

Inoichi, his eyebrow still raised in skepticism, decided that he'd give the blonde boy the benefit of the doubt.

"Okay Naruto, Ino's out with her mother getting ingredients for dinner tonight. Just go down to the market district and you'll find them there. Make sure to let my wife know I said it was okay to let you pull Ino away, but I expect her back before I finish my shift at the store, understand?"

oo0oo

Ino Yamanaka was not having a good week.

After her _encounter_ with Naruto, Ino had been on edge. Her mind would flash-back to that moment her fellow blonde had her pinned against the wall, his breath brushing hot against her ear, his hands leaving trails of fire along her sides. Ino's dreams were filled with replays of that moment, and the different ways it could have ended.

Ino's face erupted into a fierce blush as she walked along-side her mother. _'Why am I still thinking about it? I-It's not as if I really enjoyed it. It has to be because it's the f-first time I-I've ever been in that kind of situation, yeah, that's it.' _A voice saying her name brought the kunoichi out of her thoughts.

"Hey, Ino, I've been looking for you."

Turning to face her caller, Ino's eyes nearly popped out of her head when she saw that it was Naruto.

"N-Naruto, w-what are you d-doing here!?"

"Haha, don't you remember Ino, you and I were gong to hang out. Ya know, since we've never really been friends, and we decided that we should make an effort to be...remember?"

Ino did remember a..._talk_ they were supposed to have, but that should have been days ago. _'Unless he did that on purpose, because he knew I'd be all jumpy if he made me wait! That little punk!'_The platinum-blonde's eyes narrowed after her realization.

When she came back out of her thoughts, Ino saw Naruto speaking with her mother. Apparently the young boy had managed to convince her father that she and Naruto were trying to work on their friendship. _'That crafty little...' _

"Well, if it's only for a few hours then, sure, I don't see why Ino can't spend some time with you." Ino's mother said.

"That's great, thank you Mrs. Yamanaka, I'll be sure to not keep her to myself for too long." Naruto replied with a big smile. Taking the shocked Ino's hand, Naruto began to guide her towards the training grounds so that they could..._talk_.

It didn't take long before Naruto and Ino arrived at a training field the boy deemed secluded enough. When the young genin stopped, Ino finally managed to pull herself together enough that she ripped her hand out of Naruto's grip.

"Who do you think you are! First, you act all weird on our mission, then you come into my families flower-shop and..and...well you practically molested me you stupid jerk! And now you're pulling me away from my mother, after keeping me all flustered the whole week!" Her last statement brought Naruto's eyebrow up in amusement as he responded:

"Flustered huh? Well if it made you so..._hot_ under the collar, then you must have enjoyed it on some level, right?" Naruto stood up straight with his arms crossed behind his back, hands gripping the opposite wrist, and his chest puffed out as he smirked at the female blonde standing within arms reach of him. _'I'll hold back for right now, see if I can break through her defenses with words first.'_

Ino's cheeks once again took on a light-pink hue, and she turned her eyes away for a moment to recollect herself and bring back her anger. She hadn't been expecting Naruto to catch her slip up, nor did she guess that he would throw it back in her face. _'I thought Naruto was supposed to be dumb! What the heck is going on here?'_ Seeing the confused look on the girls face, Naruto guessed her thoughts and decided to answer her question:

"If you're wondering about my new personality, like I said the other day, all you have to do is ask. Ino, I don't really know what you think is going on, but I'm not a bad guy. I just had a wake-up call during our trip to Wave, and I made the decision to change myself; to become more serious."

"But what does that have to do with those weird secret talks you had with Tazuna-san, or when you would disappear for most of the day and then come back right as everyone was finishing dinner? I can understand that you want to be more serious, and in turn, be taken more seriously, but you're weirding me out Naruto." Her rant started off strong, her voice level. But by the end it sounded...desperate and a little afraid.

Naruto had picked up on Ino's change in tone easily and was quick to decipher how to use it to his advantage.

"Ino, my decision has everything to do with those talks and my disappearances," Naruto began, his voice soft, "I learned some interesting things about my family history that made me reevaluate myself and my current attitude. Ino I really am serious about asking me. I don't mind telling you about my discoveries."

The level of sincerity in Naruto's voice, along with is open body-language, made Ino truly believe what her fellow blonde was saying to her. It made feel like he trusted her.

"N-Naruto, I know I have a habit of being a gossip, so the fact that you're willing to trust me with your secrets...it means a lot to me. Okay, my first question is...what did you and Tazuna-san talk about that first night we stayed in Wave?"

oo0oo

Ino's eyes fluttered open, her vision hazy as she went to wipe her eyes. At first she was unsure of where she was, but when the young kunoichi took notice of the sea of red she lay upon, she remembered.

She and Naruto had talked for over an hour about the boys personal adventure in Wave, then, things took an..._interesting_ turn.

Ino wasn't sure how it started really. One moment she was standing across from Naruto, he seemed to be flirting with her like before in her family's shop, the next the girl was wrapped in his arms and his mouth found itself occupied with her neck.

**FLASHBACK-**

_Wide blue eyes swiftly found themselves squeezed shut in pleasure._

_Ino threw her head back and let out a gasp. Naruto had attached his lips to her pulse point and began work on leaving a hickey. While his mouth was busy with her neck, Naruto busied his hands with Ino's body. His left was brought upward, where it began gently massaging her right breast, while his right hand slid down and cupped the young kunoichi's ass. With so many spots being pleasured at once, Ino was forced to wrap her arms around her fellow blondes neck to keep from falling to her knees._

_Naruto continued this triple-threat for a few moments, before pulling away from her neck, and moving both hands to her hips. He began to trace little circles on her hips with his thumbs as his commanding, cobalt gaze stared directly into Ino's own powder-blue pair._

"_Ino, the things that I've told you", Naruto whispered, "you must never reveal to anyone without my permission, do you understand?"_

_The platinum-blonde took in deep breaths, trying to recover from her near orgasmic experience, and then replied: "Yes (huff) I understand (huff) Naruto-ku-(gasp)" Ino's reply was cut short when Naruto returned to her pulse point for a moment._

"_When we are alone, you will refer to me as Naruto-sama. We are not equals, you do not stand beside me in this. You will refer to me as...Dominus*"_

_**-End Flashback**_

Immediately after, Naruto and Ino engaged in a long session of heavy petting that lead them to the tree Naruto now sat against, Ino curled up in his lap.

When Ino remembered the events that lead to her present state she could feel her face erupt in heat. She had never been intimate with a boy before, and here she was, having her first experience with Naruto of all people. And yet...the thought of Naruto and her doing it all again made her heartbeat quicken.

oo0oo

Naruto stood at the center of the training field, his cobalt eyes staring across the grass at several, similar, pairs. The blonde had decided to up his training.

Standing within twenty feet were three copies of Naruto, all dressed in red tunics, and all standing in the "ready stance"; their swords all pointed at Naruto.

Naruto attacked first. He swung at the clone on the left(clone 1), a diagonal slash to the chest. When his attack was parried, Naruto had no time to try again because he was forced to duck under a jab from the center clone(clone 2). Naruto answered this with a quick elbow to the clones midsection.

Before he could press his attack, Naruto was forced to jump back and avoid a swing from the forgotten clone on his right(clone 3). Following directly after, the blonde twisted out of the way of a jab sent by the Clone 1; who had stepped up to get within striking distance. Naruto continued his spin, but lowered himself so as to be able to reach his attackers leg with a sweep-strike. Clone 1 realized this and lifted its leg to avoid the attack.

Clone 2, having recovered from the blow to its stomach, brought down his gladius in a vertical slash meant to split open his creators skull. The move would have succeeded, had Naruto not seen it out of the corner of his eye, and brought his own gladius up to block it. Blades locked, Naruto swiftly rose from his crouch, throwing Clone 2 off-balance, and spartan-kicking it in the chest.

Any thoughts of a follow-up attack were stricken from mind when Naruto felt a sharp sting in his right shoulder. Clone 1 had gotten behind him and managed to land a blow. Naruto's clones quickly backed away, waiting for word from their creator.

Naruto stood there, his eyes gazing down at his own shoulder. He would have to get the tunic repaired, of that there was no doubt, _'And I suppose I'll send a letter to Tsuichi saying that I'll need more than just this one.'_Rotating his already healing shoulder, Naruto re-entered his stance and said:

"Is that all you have to offer?"

The clones smirked at one another before re-engaging Naruto in combat.

oo0oo

Naruto sat, once again, on his bed with book clutched in hand. It had been about a month since he had begun working on breaking down Ino's resolve. She tried to fight it heavily in the beginning, saying that Naruto had used some kind of jutsu on her. The blonde quickly put those claims to rest when Naruto asked if she wished to be checked by a senior officer. So now, while she was still resistant, Ino was much more submissive than in the beginning.

Naruto was currently on Caesar's third military log. He'd learned how Caesar and his ally Crassus had managed to take back the city of Sinuessa, but was angered at how Crassus son, Tiberius, shunned Caesar's offer of friendship. The jealous fool even tried to have Caesar killed by releasing a captured rebel during a celebration!

"_...As I stood there, grinning at my opponent, I could see out of the corner of my eye Tiberius trying to hold back a smirk. As if he'd just put in motion some master plan. _

_My skills were sloppy since I'd been drinking that night, but then the wine was of the perfect age, how could I not partake in it? Yet, despite my inebriated state, I managed to hold my own against the rebel. Even when he'd backed me into a corner, and it seemed(according to that preening little fuck Metellus) like I would be defeated, my sharp mind still managed to find an opening. _

_I noticed the rebel had a wound in his side; no doubt caused by one of our own soldiers. I struck it with my elbow and the man was quick to back away in pain. I sneered at the fool. Who did he think he was, believing himself a match for the honored Caesar?_

_What followed was a brief scuffle, in which he managed to wound me, before I cut open the mans stomach. The rebel fell to his knees after that, but when I paid him a compliment for his admirable fighting skill, the animal just insulted me. I allowed my anger to flow through me as I prepared to part his head from his shoulders, but the rebel chose instead to take his own life._

_I stood there, shocked by the mans fortitude, and I could see that little fuck Tiberius once again hiding a smirk. All was silent, I had no idea how I was going to save face in front of the men, until Crassus came to my aid. The man truly was a genius. He stood and proclaimed: _

_'Behold! The greatest warriors take their own lives in fear of Caesar!'_

_Crassus had not only saved me from humiliation, but he also boosted me tremendously in the eyes of the men, as well as, gave them confidence for the coming battles._

_I truly do owe much to my friend...I only wish he were here now to see that our plan succeeded."_

Naruto was moved by Caesar's words. To know that the great general truly did care for his friend as more than a game piece made Naruto understand that, yes the members of his _team_ were pieces in a game to help him in his mission, but they were still important, and should be cared for and treated with a degree of respect.

"Speaking of allies," Naruto mumbled to himself, "I haven't seen much of Shikamaru lately. In fact, the two of us haven't spoken since he came looking to question me about my "strange" behavior."

Naruto thought of the alliance Caesar forged with Crassus and recognized the similarities between the relationship between himself and Shikamaru. Naruto had the political prowess and the leadership capability, while Shikamaru was the business man with the strategic mind.

"I think I'll go pay a surprise visit to my good friend Shikamaru"

oo0oo

Naruto stood at the entrance to the Nara clan compound, he'd been greeted by Yoshino, Shikamaru's mother, and been informed that the lazy chunin would be out momentarily.

_'How should I start this off? I was able to catch him off-guard the last time we spoke, but I fear he now knows what to expect of me. Perhaps I should tell him the truth, like I did with Hinata and Ino, and sway him to my side with some sob story. -sigh- I'm just not sure with this one.'_

Naruto's musings were cut short when he heard the door opening and the Nara heir stepped outside.

"Hey Naruto, my mom said you wanted to see me?"

"Yeah, I was hoping we could talk for a bit. We haven't really seen each other in a while, and I just wanted to check in and make sure we're still okay?"

Shikamaru understood what the blonde meant. However, he hadn't been avoiding Naruto, it was simply just that Shikamaru had been immersed in studying his family history and the history of Ancient Rome.

"It's okay Naruto, and yeah, we're still good. It's just that...well, I asked my dad about the things I learned from you. I know you trusted me with that information, but I didn't think you'd mind me bringing up the subject with my father. But anyway, after speaking with my dad ," by this time the two young ninja had begun to walk the streets, "I learned that my family has ties to Rome. We had a famous ancestor named Crassus, who was actually part of this really powerful political machine known as-"

"The Triumvirate, right?" Shikamaru whipped his head around and stared, wide-eyed, at his blonde friend. "H-How do you know that Naruto?"

"Hahah, that's actually why I came looking for you Shikamaru. I didn't exactly tell you everything about my trip to Wave country. At the time, I wasn't really sure I could trust you with that information. But, I've just read something today that's made me rethink my decision...if you still wish to know."

The quiet tone in which Naruto ended his response forged a knot in Shikamaru's stomach. But rather than decline, the young shadow-manipulator chose to listen.

"I think...I would like to know, Naruto."

Naruto and Shikamaru sat at an outside table of a bakery. Naruto had chosen such a place because he knew that no one worthwhile would be seated at the establishment, only civilians frequented such a place, while anyone of significant standing had their things home-delivered or imported.

Both ninja sat silently, neither one really knowing how to start the conversation. Finally, their waitress came by and, after taking their orders, Naruto spoke up: "Shikamaru, when I was in Wave, I...discovered things. Things that I had never thought possible. I found out where I come from, and more importantly, who I have the power to be."

Shikamaru looked across the table at the blonde he'd graduated the academy with, _'And yet, he's __not__ the same kid I graduated with. He's become someone completely different.'_

"Naruto...since you're going to tell me everything, why not start at the beginning. Tell me about how it all started."

Naruto, remembering his decision to trust Shikamaru, opened his mouth and spoke: "Well, alright. It started when we arrived in Wave and were looking for a place to stay. We'd just found a place when I heard someone shout my name, it was Tazuna. He greeted us and he and I talked for a while, and then he offered to let us stay at his place for the duration of our mission. When we arrived, Tazuna and I went into his study, he had something he wished to speak with me about, and that's where things truly began to open up."

oo0oo

Naruto walked away from the bakery with a satisfied smile on his face. He'd convinced Shikamaru to side with him, become the Crassus to his Caesar. Naruto now needed to find just one more prominent ally, and he would be able to form his own Triumvirate.

As Naruto walked through the village he thought of all the different pieces he now had on his side of the board: _'I've got the Hyuga, as well as Yamanaka, heiress, I've got Konohamaru on my side, and I've now acquired the Nara heir as well. Yes, things are coming together much faster than I'd anticipated, but I've got to be careful, those fools on the council can't get wind of this too early or else all my planning will be for nothing.'_

While Naruto's mind was busy with thoughts of his imperial dream, the blonde himself was left unaware of the shadow that followed close behind until it, literally, ran into him.

Looking behind him Naruto's vision was immediately obscured by a mess of dark, indigo hair. It was Hinata. And she looked as if she'd been crying.

Naruto turned his body and wrapped the young kunoichi in a light embrace. Naruto had not seen Hinata in over a month, not since before her 'C'-rank mission; the one where she was to make her first kill.

"Hinata, you're back! Are you alright?" Instead of a vocal response, Hinata just buries her head further into the blondes tunic. Deciding to resolve this quickly, _'I can't have her breaking down every time she takes a life',_ Naruto scooped the crying Hyuga into a bridal-carry, and continued on his path towards his training ground.

Once they'd arrived Naruto set Hinata back on her feet, then, holding her at arms length, asked a second time: "Hinata, are you alright?"

This time the crying heiress managed to shake her head 'no', before breaking once again breaking down into sobs. "I don't have time for this", Naruto muttered to himself, before he gripped Hinata's shoulders tightly and spoke with authority: "Hinata, you must tell me what's wrong or I cannot help you, and if I can't break you of this state you're in...you will be of no use to me."

That last statement managed to get through to her, Hinata couldn't allow herself to become useless to the one person she truly cared for. Bringing up a hand to wipe away any new tears, Hinata lifted her head up to look her Naruto-kun in the eye, and began to relay her mission to him.

**FLASHBACK-**

_Hinata sat on her knees, her wide eyes staring, unblinkingly, at her trembling hands. Twenty feet away from her lay the last of the bandit horde Team 8 had been tasked with getting rid of._

_Hinata and her squad had arrived at the town of Usagi thinking the mission would just be to get rid of a caravan or two full of bandits. What they discovered when they got there however, was that an entire encampment had been set up outside the town gate...the only thing keeping the bandits out. Apparently the raiders were keeping the people of Usagi held up behind their own walls, and if any of them tried to leave without having something to offer, they were killed._

_Team 8 had learned this after they'd hurtled themselves over the wall during the night and met up with the town's leader; a man by the name of Gonzo. The squad of ninja quickly deduced that the bandits would have to be caught by surprise. So, they spent a total of two weeks having catapults fashioned out of any wood they could find in town, and then forged "canon balls" out of bales of hay._

_During the third week, the team set up their catapults in the dead of night, then loaded them with the balls of hay before then setting them on fire and raining them down on the raiders encampment. The siege weapons did their job, the men(what was left of them) were left in disarray, and were unprepared to deal with four skilled ninja and a ninja dog. _

_Kurenai, being a Jounin, used her superior speed to swiftly cut down numerous bandits at a time. While she was gifted in genjutsu, the red-eyed kunoichi felt that her expertise was not needed to handle non-ninja of this caliber. As she finishes slitting ones throat, she takes a moment to look over her students._

_Kiba quickly had Akamaru use the {**beast-human clone technique}**, to become a clone of Kiba before they began to tear into surrounding bandits with their {**fang-over-fang} **attack. Shino was significantly more subtle with his approach, having swarms of his bugs go around and drain bandits dry of their chakra. If a bandit got too close, only then would the Aburame enter into physical combat and personally dispose of an enemy._

_Hinata, her byakugan activated, was delivering strike after strike to the men surrounding her. The young heiress was noticeably clenching her jaw, and tears were spilling from her eyes, as she used her bare hands to end the lives of numerous bandits. _

_Kurenai felt pride at seeing her two male students handling their responsibilities like true shinobi. But when her eyes landed on Hinata, the raven-haired beauty felt a twinge of discouragement. Her female student was shedding tears while she was taking the enemies life. 'Perhaps Hinata truly is too gentle for this type of work.' _

_The Jounin's mind was quickly returned to the mission when she had to duck under the sword swing of a bandit, and then plunge her kunai into the mans stomach._

_Hinata wanted to throw-up, she wanted to drop to her knees and throw-up. Never did the young girl think that the process of taking a life could be so...haunting. She knew she was crying, Hinata could feel the tears as they streamed from her eyes, but she was determined to work though it; to finish the mission. Through use of her byakugan Hinata could see the look her sensei sent her way, and it made the young heiress angry._

_Something that most people didn't know, was that those with a dojutsu could see so clearly that it was impossible to forget something you've seen. So while the rest of her squad would eventually be able to block out this horrible night, Hinata would forever have this event stored in her brain. That was why clans with dojutsu were so stone-faced, because they had spent many sleepless nights remembering the lives they'd taken._

_The only thing keeping Hinata from crumbling was the thoughts of her Naruto-kun. The promise that he'd be there for her when she'd returned home, so that she had someone to tell her that everything would be okay, and that she wasn't a monster for taking these men's lives._

_Hinata had struck down the final raider with a two-finger strike between the eyes, effectively blowing the mans brain to bits inside his own head. When the man sank to his knees, blood seeping from every opening in his head, Hinata backed away a few steps before stumbling over her feet and falling to the ground. No longer able to keep up her strong facade, Hinata began to hurl._

_The young kunoichi threw-up until she had nothing left to give but dry heaves. As she brought up her shaking hands into view, Hinata ignored the approach of her team. Kurenai was the first to speak up:_

"_Hinata, it's okay, the mission's over and all the bandits are dead. You did great, I don't think I've ever been more proud of you." The sound of her teachers voice made Hinata's head to snap up and her angry eyes to bore into Kurenai's._

"_Okay? **Okay!?** More importantly, how about you tell me a time you've actually been proud of me Miss Kurenai, because I certainly can't remember any of them!" Hinata had activated her byakugan at this point, her teeth clenched tightly_

"_Hey, Hinata, calm down. Kurenai-sensei's trying to tell you she's **proud** of you, why are you snapping at her like that? Isn't this what you always tell us you're trying to do, show people how strong you are-" Kiba was cut off._

"_I want Naruto-kun to see, I don't care about the rest of you! Naruto-kun would've held me and made me feel better, not stand off to the side and **lie** about how "proud" he was of me!"_

_With that Hinata got up and stalked off back to the village._

_**-END FLASHBACK**_

Hinata had finished her story and was on the verge of crying again, but the sound of a shadow-clone poofing into existence drew her attention. There, standing in front of her, were two Naruto's. One was unsheathing his sword while the other had his eyes trained sternly on her.

The clone flipped his blade around and offered the hilt to Hinata. The heiress looked over at the original Naruto with confusion-filled eyes. "Take that gladius Hinata-"

Whatever Naruto was going to say, and do, was cut-off by the arrival of an ANBU agent.

oo0oo

_A/N: Hey, I'm ending it here because I literally just fucked up my finger, and I can't type with the pain._

_First of all: I didn't try to troll anybody! Hinata and Ino ARE going to be in relationships with Naruto, and while temari is going to be the actual wife, Hinata will be the closest thing he has to an actual relationship. _

_Next chapter will probably be late, but I'll make it the beginning of long chapters, so that you guys will have something to look forward to. _

_Review__ and let me know what you guys think, and I thank you guys for sticking with me :)_


	7. Omnes qui in amore et victus bellum

**Ch.7- O****mnes qui in amore et victus bellum**

**(All's fare in love and war)**

Tsunade sat in her chair, fingers steepled in front of her face and Jiraiya leaning against the side of her desk, staring at the entourage standing in her office.

The first member was a male. He had short, spiky, red hair and mint-green eyes. These eyes had black rings around them, like the mask of a raccoon, and the boy also had the kanji for "love" tattooed on his left temple. The young man, no older than 14, was dressed in a set of burgundy overalls and had a white sash that draped across his chest, and wrapped around his waist. The boy had mesh armor covering his wrists, as well as his ankles. Finally, the red-head had a gourd strapped to his back.

This was Subaku no Gaara.

Standing to his left, was a beautiful young girl. She had peach-colored skin, with teal eyes, and sandy-blonde hair done up into four ponytails. She wore a long-sleeved, purple blouse underneath a gray top, and and a dark-blue skirt. Around her waist she wore a sash; tied back in a bow. This was Gaara's older sister, Temari.

The third member of the group, standing to Gaara's right, was another young man. He wore a black, baggy, full-body suit with a red and yellow circle on the front. On his head he wore a black hood that covered his head completely...but had triangular tips that made him look like a giant cat. On his back, the boy had a wrapped bundle strapped like Gaara's gourd; the young man also wore purple face-paint(and I **just **found out that he changes it **5** times 0.0).

This was Gaara's older brother, Kankuro.

The final member of the squad, and by far the tallest, was a man dressed in standard Suna Jounin garb. He had two distinct, red markings on the right side of his tanned face. Over his head he wore a turban, with a white sheet that covered the whole left side of the mans face. This was Baki, the Jounin leader of the Suna Siblings.

"I have to say," Tsunade began, "I'm surprised by your sudden visit to our village. Especially with recent..._events _causing a dangerous strain in our alliance." The mention of the invasion caused three of the four ninja to flinch; it was that read-headed fourth ninja that chose to respond.

"Lady Tsunade, while it is true that our two villages are at odd due to Suna's involvement in Orochimaru's attack, does that mean I'm not allowed to visit someone I consider my friend and brother?"

Tsunade had not expected such an answer. She'd herd, of course, about the invasion, but nobody had told her any of the _technical_ details; such as who had beaten who.

"Excuse me, Gaara-san, but if you could tell me who this...friend is, then I can have them brought here to greet you."

"It seems you and I are on the same train of thought Hokage-sama, because I was going to ask you to call that friend in; but for a completely professional reason." At this Tsunade's interest was fully peaked.

"And just what kind of..._professional_ business would this be?" When she finished, Tsunade noticed the girl, Temari, duck her head and mutter out a non-intelligible response.

"Can you say that again Ms. Temari, I didn't quite catch that."

The sandy-blonde looked up at the female Fire-Shadow and growled out: "A political marriage."

Tsunade's eyes nearly flew out of their sockets at this news, she was completely unprepared for such a statement.

"Ahem, excuse me", Jiraiya cut in, reminding everyone that he was in the room, "but this _friend _wouldn't happen to be my student Naruto, would it?"

His answer came in the form of a sharp nod from Baki.

Jiraiya wasn't sure what to make of this. "May I ask why the council of Suna has put forth this proposition? It's not that I find this unusual, from a political standpoint anyway, but why choose Naruto as this girls husband; Suna has nothing to gain from it."

"While the overall possibility of a political marriage was the council's idea, the Suna council had nothing to do with the selection," before Jiraiya could interrupt, Gaara hurried out, "I was the one who chose Naruto." While the reasoning was still lost on the Toad Sage, Tsunade was beginning to understand where Gaara wad going.

"While I think I understand why you chose the knucklehead for this..._assignment_," Tsunade began, " I'd still like to know why the political marriage is being pushed for."

"Well Lady Tsunade," Baki spoke for the first time, "it's like this..."

****

**FLASHBACK-**

_Gaara and his squad stood at the doors of their villages council room. The Suna Siblings had been relaxing at home when their sensei Baki arrived, and informed the trio that they were being summoned by the council._

_After a short walk, the team arrived at the council building; a tall, mud-brown, stone structure. After being signed in by the council secretary, the Suna Siblings walked up the stairs, and found themselves waiting to be called in._

_They were not forced to wait long._

_With a stern, "Enter", the team followed behind Baki and stood in the center of the room, surrounded by the council. _

_The council of Suna was made up of older men and women, most of whom were once ninja who'd fought their entire lives. Those who hadn't been ninja, were influential clan leaders—there were no ordinary civilians on the Suna council. The room was arranged in the typical style, the men and women were seated at tall podiums set up in a large semi-circle; ninja on the left, non-ninja on the right. _

"_Ah, good, the three of you managed to make it", spoke an elderly man dressed in the gold and blue robes of a councilmen._

"_Honored elders, while it is a pleasure to see you all alive and busy, what business do you have with our team that required you to pull us from the vacation time that you yourselves scheduled for us?" Gaara's greeting was ended with a stern look that told the aged men and women 'This had better be important...or else.'_

_Gaara had calmed down significantly after his battle with Naruto. He was brought back to Suna, carried by is older sister, and had gotten his seal fixed so that he was allowed to sleep. Something he took full advantage of when left alone. But he still maintained an air of danger, and was quickly angered when he thought someone was wasting his time._

"_-gulp- W-Well you see, Gaara-sama, the r-reason we called your team in today was to discuss the damage done to our alliance with Konoha, and how we may be able to fix it."_

_This lightened the Jinchuuriki mood, to the point that his min-green eyes lost their angry gleam. Gaara had been upset to find that, due to the two countries strained relations, he was unable to visit his fellow Jinchuuriki, and lone friend, Naruto unless the red head was visiting the village on business._

"_That's encouraging to hear elders," Gaara began, his eyes closing in thought, "but how exactly do you intend to accomplish that?" The red-head didn't want to get his hopes up too high. _

_Another elder, this time a female, spoke out: "-Ahem- Well, the way we see it young master, the alliance could be re-solidified through a union between two members of each village-" _

_Anything else the old crow might ave said was cut-off by a loud "NO WAY", from Temari who, from the beginning, had a bad feeling abut the meeting._

"_There's absolutely no way you old goats are bargaining me off to help fix a mistake that you all decided to make!"_

"_Lady Temari please, be reasonable," the same old woman began, "we're trying to regain the favor of the Fire Daimyo, so that he will return our missions to us. In the short while that our own Daimyo began handing missions over to Fire country, Suna has experienced a dangerous recession. There's not enough money coming in, and our trading business isn't picking up enough of the slack; we just don't have enough valuable resources. Lady Temari we wouldn't have chosen this option if we had any other choice."_

_Temari understood well how bad things were getting in her home. She was beginning to see businesses closing because no one had money to buy their goods, she in turn noticed those people living on the streets because they didn't make enough money to pay for their housing. Even **her **family was beginning to struggle; and they were the children of the previous Kazekage! _

"_While I understand our plight Saya-sama, that still doesn't answer the question of why I have to be the scapegoat here. There are plenty of other kunoichi in Suna who could fill the role."_

"_While it is true that there are other kunoichi's in Suna, you are wrong in assuming that any of them are suited for this task." Temari opened her mouth to retort, but Saya held up a wrinkled hand, and continued speaking, "Before you say anything, you truly are the only girl we can offer to Konoha. You are our top kunoichi, your skills are unmatched by any of your female peers; you've even managed to best some of our chunin! And even if skill wasn't a deciding factor, you are the daughter of the former Kazekage. While that already puts you in a lofty standing as a bride, your relation to him serves as a double positive towards our goal."_

_By this time, Temari's eyes had screwed shut in anger and her jaw was clenched in frustration as well. Through grinding teeth she asked: "Why don't you enlighten me about this double positive effect , Saya-sama!"_

"_Of course dear. You see, the first point is as I've already said. You are our most skilled fighter, and the Leaf village admires and covets strength; just look at the last Uchiha. Now, the second reason is much more political. If we hand over the daughter of the man that helped lay siege to their village, then Konoha will view us as humble and truly regretful of our action. While handing you over may seem cruel, you must look at it from the political point of view Lady Temari."_

_When Saya had mentioned Sasuke, Temari felt a cold shiver run down her spine, 'They wouldn't!' However at the same time, she did in fact see the truth behind the elders words; she really was the only kunoichi Suna could offer up. Knowing this, Temari lowered her head in defeat._

_Seeing Temari lower her head made Saya grin. She'd convinced the girl that the arranged marriage was the best option. What she neglected to mention however, was that the Suna council also had its own agenda in securing this marriage. They'd decided to marry Temari off to Sasuke Uchiha, with the stipulation that Temari be allowed to "visit" Suna if she so wished. They added this because the elders knew that the sandy-blonde would want to have any children she might have, in the safety of her home village. The council would then abduct the child, and create its own army of sharingan warriors._

"_I'm glad to see that you've come to reason Lady Temari. While it does sadden me to see our most promising kunoichi leave us, the council will put forth a clause stating that you may visit Suna whenever you wish; so you don't get too homesick."_

_The young girl picked up her head and smiled lightly at the room full of elders. 'Maybe this won't be so bad then, I can just split my time evenly between here and Konoha. This way I can be here for our holidays and to help Gaara re-learn his emotions'_

"_Saya-sama, while I'm ready to accept the proposal, you never actually told me **who** I was marrying."_

_Saya put on er best "granny" smile, and spoke: "Why, I thought it'd be obvious dear, we're choosing Sasuke Uchiha as your intended."_

_With that statement, the sandy-blonde kunoichi's entire world began to crumble. While she had thought Sasuke was attractive upon first meeting him, Temari swiftly lost interest after seeing how he behaved towards his comrades and his arrogant, self-centered attitude._

"_No."_

_All eyes turned to look at the red-head, who'd been silent up until that point._

_Gaara had agreed with what the elder had said; the proposal was sound. However, what the Jinchuuriki could not accept, was the on whom the council had chosen. The red-head may have only just begun to understand the importance of family, but, there was no way he was going to allow his sister, the same one who'd been by Gaara's side his entire life, to marry someone as...unworthy as Sasuke Uchiha._

"_Excuse me young master," Saya began, "but what do you mean by "no"? Lady Temari has already agreed with the marriage, so there's really not much you can do."_

"_I'm not opposing the idea of the political marriage, I'm saying "no" to the one you intend to marry her off to. That weakling is not fit to marry my older sister." Gaara's eyes had regained their angry gleam, but Saya would not be deterred; Suna would have the sharingan!_

"_You say young Sasuke is weak, however, I do not recall there being any other genin at his level during the chunin exams. That boy managed to make you bleed for the first time, if I remember correctly; what genin can say they've done anything even close to that?" _

_While is was true that Sasuke had been the first to make Gaara bleed, there was one other who had managed to accomplish a feat even more impressive than that...hand Gaara his first defeat in battle. With the image of the beaten and bloodied blonde in his mind, Gaara smirked; he'd found someone worthy of his sister._

"_Naruto Uzumaki"_

**-END FLASHBACK**

"And that is why I have chosen Naruto as the receiver of my sisters hand in marriage. I feel that there is no other ninja in your village qualified for this task."

Temari rolled her eyes, "Gee, thanks Gaara, I didn't know you considered this whole thing just a task."

"You know what I mean Temari. Naruto is the only person I believe is worthy of you; who can truly appreciate you."

Temari looked over to her brother, and when she saw the sincere light in his eye, she smiled gently and silently decided try and make the best of the situation.

Tsunade watched the interaction between brother and sister, and was reminded of her own relationship with her brother Nawaki; and the one she was currently forging with Naruto. Thinking about that, she came to the conclusion that the political marriage could be good for Naruto.

The buxom Hokage snapped her finger, and an ANBU with a bird mask appeared, kneeling on the right side of Tsunade's desk. "Hokage-sama?"

"Go and bring me Naruto Uzumaki, inform him that envoys from Suna are here to see him, but don't tell him why."

"Understood, Hokage-sama." And with that, the ANBU disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

oo0oo

"Hokage-sama requests your presents, Naruto-san."

Naruto and Hinata stared at the sudden appearance of the bird-masked ANBU agent in confusion. "Uh, may I ask why Bird-san?" Naruto asked, he had not been expecting to receive a summons from the Hokage so out of the blue.

"Representatives from Suna have recently arrived, and they have business that they say involves you. So if you could come with me; we wouldn't want to keep the ambassadors waiting."

Naruto nodded in understanding. While the blonde would rather stay and look over Hinata, Naruto knew that to have ambassadors call for you specifically was a big deal. "Alright, if it's that important, then we can go in a moment." At this, Naruto turned back to Hinata.

"Hinata, it seems our time together is being cut short. What I want to do is," Naruto produced another shadow-clone, "leave these two here with you, and have them pick up where I left off. If that's okay with you?"

Hinata smiled, happy that she wasn't just being pushed aside, "O-Of course it's okay Naruto-kun, I-I understand how important a meeting with L-Lady Tsunade is, y-you go ahead, I'll be fine here with the clones."

"Okay Hinata, if you're sure."

After giving the shy Hyuga a smile, Naruto stepped back over to the ANBU member and allowed the man to place his hand on Naruto's shoulder. In a poof of smoke, both were gone.

Hinata stared at the spot where Naruto had just been for a few minutes before her attention was snagged by one of the clones clearing his throat. When she turned to address him, she was met with the sight of the clone holding out the hilt of his blade to her.

"W-What do you want me to do w-with that?"

"The Imperator was going to begin your training today, unfortunately, as you saw, he was drawn away. So, to make up for it, I will over see your first training session against this other clone." His response was met with a look of surprise.

"T-Training...me? I-I don't understand, what sort of t-training does Naruto-kun want me to start doing?"

"He wishes to begin your formal military training. As I'm sure you already know, the Imperator has already decided that you will serve as a Legatus in his army; this will require that you be an exceptional fighter even among the rest of the legion."

Hinata recalled her love mentioning something of the sort when they'd fully discussed his plans for the future, but she'd convinced Naruto that she'd be better off as a medical officer than a warrior on the filed."I-I thought I was to serve as a m-medic, to tend to the wounded soldiers?"

"I am aware of that, and you shall, but when battles are over we will have wounded and you will be head of our entire medical corp. You already posses a degree of medical skill, so the Imperator plans to convince the Hokage to take you on as her new apprentice."

Hinata couldn't believe her ears. Her! Apprentice to a Sannin!

"But that can all be discussed with the Imperator personally later, for now, we will begin work on your formal training." As he finished speaking, the clone(C1) tossed his gladius at the young kunoichi; startling the young girl who clumsily managed to catch it.

C1 stepped off to the side-lines, and motioned for the second clone to take position.

C2 moved to the center of the training ground, and entered the "ready stance". Hinata, not knowing what else to do, walked over and stood across from C2; gladius clutched awkwardly in both hands.

"Wrong!" C1 called out from the side-lines, "You will enter into the same stance as the clone that stands before you."

The shy heiress nodded and set herself up in the unusual stance. But Hinata couldn't help the feeling that something was just...off, about the form she'd taken.

C1 noticed as well.

"I see you are having trouble centering yourself in that form. It makes sense, considering you're a Hyuga." His observation confused the bluenette; what did being a Hyuga have to do with anything?

"I-I don't understand, why does me being a Hyuga dictate w-why this stance feels off?"

"Because, you are used to fighting with both hands, not just one at a time. While it is true that technically everyone fights using both hands, your specific fighting style known as the Gentle-Fist requires equal use of both hands." C1 used up some of the chakra he was made up of, to create a third clone, who he then had give over its gladius to Hinata as well.

"Enter into your normal fighting stance, while incorporating the two swords you've been given." Hinata did as she was told, and entered into the traditional Gentle-Fist stance.

Hinata positioned her left leg out in front, while her right was set up bent at the knee; so as to be ready to push off and run towards her opponent. Her left arm, like her leg, was stretched out, leveling the blade at C2 and her right arm was bent at a 90 degree angle; its blade also pointing towards the clone.

"While I've been doing this for the entire month since we've been back, we're going to start you off nice and slow; so as to let you get used to the added weight of the blades. However, this pace is only for today, tomorrow we're going to speed up." With his instructions laid out, C1 nodded towards his fellow clone as a signal to begin.

C2 started off with a quick jab, but before Hinata could parry, C2 switched his attack to a horizontal slash that cut through the girls jacket. Not giving Hinata any time to asses the damage done to her, C2 pressed forward with a strike to the shy kunoichi's face, snapping the girls head to the side and leaving her open as C2 performed a sweep-slash that left a bleeding gash along Hinata's thigh. The clone finished his maneuver, and stepped back so as to let Hinata regain her senses.

Hinata was left completely unprepared for the assault she was just faced with. She'd been fully prepared to parry the clones first attack, and then press her attack forward, but was caught off-guard when C2 suddenly switched his attack to a slash. Thankfully her jacket was heavy and had taken all of the damage; leaving Hinata herself unarmed. However her jacket couldn't protect her against the follow -up attack, and Hinata was left dazed from a right cross. And just when she thought it was over, Hinata then felt a burning, stinging sensation in her thigh; she'd been cut.

When she was no longer being bombarded with painful sensations, Hinata managed to clear the cobwebs from her brain, and take stock of her condition. She noticed that the only serious injury she'd suffered was the wound on her thigh; but she refused to let that be the end of her training!

_'I won't let this get in the way, I'll prove tat I'm capable of keeping up!'_

The fire that ignited in Hinata's eyes after her self-reinforcement didn't go unnoticed by C2. While he was proud of her, the clone understood that his creator needed to keep his distance from the girl if he were to be able to focus on restoring the empire; so he held back any visual show of praise.

"Good, you're ready to go again. This time, don't stand quite so tense. Obviously you need to be ready to react to your opponents movements, but being too tight results in being unable to adapt to quick changes; like what just happened a moment ago." Hinata took this in, played back her first round, and realized the clones point. Nodding her head in affirmation, Hinata reset herself into her stance, activated her byakugan, and motioned to C2 to re-engage her.

Seeing that the Hyuga heiress was ready for a second round, C2 walked forward, and also re-entered his ready stance.

Beginning the round with something new, C2 performed a sweep-slash. This time, Hinata managed to avoid the attack, and thanks to her dojutsu, managed to parry the rising-slash C2 performed as a follow-up to his sweep. After her parry, Hinata brought her left hand down and attempted to plunge her second blade into the clones shoulder. She missed, however, because C2 used his leather-braced forearm to knock the attack aside, and then rolled backwards to regain his bearings.

When Hinata noticed the clone pulling back, she decided that giving him space was too dangerous, and followed him; letting out a short battle cry as she leaped into the air, spun, and brought both her blades down upon C2.

As C2 was rolling, he heard the sound of grass crunching beneath quick steps. The sound of Hinata's battle cry let him know that the kunoichi was indeed pressing her attack. After his final roll, C2 set his feet firmly on the ground and brought up his gladius to block the two incoming blades. With a 'clang' of steel, Hinata was brought down by gravity, and the heiress found herself locked in a stalemate with her blonde love.

Due to her minimal physical strength, Hinata soon found herself being pushed back as C2 began to rise from his kneeling position. When he was fully back on his feet, C2 pushed Hinata's blades to the side, and caught her under the chin with a viscous uppercut. The blow sent the young kunoichi flying back, and landed her hard on the ground.

C2 sheathed his gladius and waked over to the downed Hyuga. She was clenching her eyes shut in pain and wiping at her bloodied mouth. "Never get into a physical stand-off with an opponent that is stronger than you, otherwise that will happen again, and your opponent won't stop to make sure you're okay."

With that said, C2 stretched his hand out to Hinata, and helped her to her feet. "Now, return to your ready stance, and we'll go again. We're going to do this until the Imperator returns." Hinata only gave an exhausted, "Hai", before doing as she was told.

oo0oo

Tsunade, Jiraiya, and the envoy from Suna didn't have to wait long before the ANBU agent returned with Naruto. But they were all shocked to see the figure the figure that stood in front of them.

Standing next to the ANBU was a young man with wild, blonde hair that covered his ears and reached the nape of his neck. The blonde had a set of hard, stern, cobalt-blue eyes and an annoyed look etched onto his chiseled face. He wore a blood-red tunic, that reached to just past his knees, with a thick, leather belt tied around the waist and another leather strap across his torso; sheathed blades held tightly against his hips. The other members of the room could make out slits that ran from the bottom of the tunic, to about mid-thigh. The blondes arms, which had increased in muscle mass due to his excessive training, were situated with his left hand holding his right wrist, and both arms bent slightly inward; both wrists were adorned with brown, leather bracers. On the young mans feet were a pair of brown, leather boots that reached mid-calf.*

All-in-all, the blonde that stood before them was only truly recognizable as Naruto because of the whisker marks on his cheeks, and the ever-present 1st Hokage's necklace that hung around his strong neck. Apparently they had been staring too long, because the blonde decided to speak up: "Are you going to tell me why I've been summoned Hokage-sama, or am I to be kept waiting entire-fucking-day while you stare at me?"

The blondes tone, as well as his language, were another shock to those who occupied the room. Gaara, being the least shocked, spoke first, "I apologize for our staring Naruto. It's just that...you look so different from when we from Suna, and apparently the Sannin, last saw you. As to why you've been summoned, it has to do with a matter involving the alliance between our two villages."

Naruto looked over, and for the first time, realized that one of the occupants in the room was his friend and fellow Jinchuuriki, Gaara. Seeing the friendly, familiar face made the blondes annoyed visage melt away into a welcoming grin. Naruto turned in the red-heads direction and greeted his "brother", "Gaara it's good to see you. And I see the dark rings around your eyes have thinned; finally getting some sleep eh?"

The sudden change in mood was another stunner to the two Sannin in the room. Was this the "new Naruto", they'd heard so much about?

"As a matter-of-fact yes, I have; you're actually the first person to notice this." Gaara threw is own annoyed look at his siblings and Jounin sensei before continuing, "Unfortunately, pleasantries and catching up will have to wait, I'm here on official business."

Naruto just nodded his head and responded, "Of course, apologies for straying from business, it's just been so long since we've seen each other, and I was caught up in the moment."

"Nothing to apologize for Naruto, we can catch up fully after we've concluded business here. I remember hearing that you enjoy ramen; perhaps we can catch up over some if you are of a mind."

"That sounds doable, but we'll have to make one quick stop first-"

"Naruto, don't you think we should get down to business now? You were just upset that we hadn't begun immediately upon your arrival after all." Tsunade cut him off.

The young Uzumaki shot the buxom Hokage a stern glance out of the corner f his eye, before sighing, and saying, "Yes, I suppose I was. And if it means getting to catch up with my friend quicker, than please, by all means, explain why I'm here and how I'm supposed to help with the fractured alliance between our two village."

"Well, Naruto, the council of Suna has decided that we need to show Konoha how sorry we are for our involvement in Orochimaru's attack. They've come up with a, in my opinion, clever way to go about this" Baki answered.

"And while that's all well and good," the blonde shot back, irritation creeping into his voice, "none of you have told me what any of it has to do with **me**." Seeing the growing anger form across Naruto's face, Temari decided that she'd step up and tell the Uzumaki boy the news.

"It has been decided that you, Naruto Uzumaki, will be part of a political marriage involving the daughter of Suna's last Kazekage."

Naruto looked to Temari, his eyes holding a calculating stare, and replied: "And just why am **I** the best candidate for this? I hold no influence here, or in any other part of the Elemental Nations, _'Not yet anyway'_, so I don't see what good marrying the daughter of a Kage off to me will do; you should have chosen someone like Sasuke for thi-"

"No!" Gaara cut in, "I refuse to marry my sister off to the likes of him. Naruto, the council of Suna didn't select you for this marriage, I did. I picked you because I needed to know that my sister, who has always been there for me, will be in good hands while she's away from her home."

The news that Temari was the girl he was being asked to marry made Naruto's eyes widen in shock. He slowly looked between the beautiful kunoichi and her brother, trying to make sense of what he'd just heard.

"Temari is the girl? She's the daughter of your villages former Kazekage?"

Gaara nodded, "Yes Naruto, she is. Her, my brother, and I are the three children of the man who allied himself with Orochimaru. The reason she was selected is because, what better way to show humility and regret for our villages actions, than to hand over our most promising kunoichi? But, as I've said, I refused to let her be given away to just anybody. I chose you, because I knew she'd be treated properly while in your care."

While Naruto was flattered by his red-headed friends words, the blonde genin wasn't sure what to do with the situation. While he didn't mind the thought of being married to Temari, she was very beautiful and a skilled kunoichi, but he didn't see much value in it other than pleasure. And then Gaara spoke up again.

"I also have another political reason. You see, I'm the favored candidate to take on the mantle of Kazekage, and when I am elected I'll need a diplomatic liaison to travel back and forth between out two villages. And who better for the job than the daughter of a former Kazekage who's lived in both areas?"

Now that was a strategic reason. Naruto realized that this was a perfect chance to do some subtle political maneuvering, "Well, while I don't mind the idea of marrying your sister; she _is _quite beautiful, and her skills shown in the chunin exam were impressive, I'm not sure if I'm worthy of her.

The blondes honeyed words sucked in the entourage from Suna. Temari's cheeks tinted a light pink at hearing such sweet words about her; most boys just told her she was "hot", or something of the sort. Gaara felt a sense of security in his decision to pick Naruto as Temari's suitor.

The two Sannin, who had remained mostly silent throughout the entire meeting, watched the blonde teen in front of them with calculating stares. They'd both heard of the new Naruto, and Jiraiya had even witnessed a small sample, but here and now the two were being treated to front-row seats to the "show."

"Naruto," Gaara began with a small smile, "it's that kind of thing about you that makes me believe that you are the best person to look after my sister while she's here in the Leaf village." After Gaara finished, Temari stepped over to Naruto, and spoke:

"Naruto-san, while we don't really know each other, I hope that this political marriage can run smoothly and we can learn to work together to better the relationship between our two villages."

The blonde genin lightly gripped Temari's hand, brought it to his lips, and kissed her knuckles before responding: "Temari-chan, I hope that we can do more than just "make it work". I hope you and I can form a real relationship, and that we can be husband and wife in more than just name, my beautiful dezātorōzu(dessert rose)."

Naruto's gentlemanly gesture, along with his smooth wordplay, caused the tomboyish kunoichi's cheeks to turn a light-pink color. Never in her whole life had Temari been treated as nicely as she'd been these last few minutes with her fellow blonde. While she managed to keep her stern face, Temari's heart began to speed up at the thought that maybe, just maybe, she'd found a guy who could handle her.

Tsunade decided she'd seen and heard enough about the whole ordeal, "So I take it this means you two are going through with the marriage?"

"As I've already said," Naruto spoke out, "I'm more than willing to accept. However, this isn't my decision to make; it's Temari-chan's. She's being asked to move away from her home and family, to come live in a new village with a guy she hardly even knows. I'd say her word is the only one that matters."

Temari let down her stone-faced facade to send Naruto a little smile. "Thank you Naruto-san, that's very mature of you to say. Most other men would have just wanted to get the ceremony over with so they could get my clothes off; it seems you may just be a cut above the typical male."

Now the two Sannin were on alert. The two legendary warriors had each spent considerable time with the blonde Uzumaki, and they'd never seen him act so...charismatic, before. Sure he had his moments of being a gentleman, and being sincere; but never had he been so deliberate about it. The Naruto that was performing in front of them was someone who, with some polish, could really hope to become Hokage one day.

While this made Tsunade happy, it made Jiraiya weary. While normally he'd be happy his student was so suave with the ladies, this was a bit much in the short amount of time since they'd last met up. However any further speculation was cut off when Tsunade's apprentice, Shizune, entered into the office.

"Tsunade-sama, excuse my intrusion, but you asked me to inform you when Sasuke Uchiha and Kakashi Hatake were in the final stages of their recovery." The young woman's news was met with silence.

"Ahem, well, thank you Shizune. I'll be there momentarily; we were just finishing up here."

"Hokage-sama," Naruto spoke up, "would it be alright if I went with you? They are after all my team-mate and sensei, and I'd like to know how they're doing, since they were both injured trying to protect me."

Naruto's request was met with a silent, but firm, nod. So after Baki laid out the marriage document, and Naruto and Temari signed it, Tsunade prepared to leave with the young genin and her fellow Sannin.

"Gaara, my friend, I'm afraid we'll have to reschedule our ramen session; I've got some people to see."

The red-head in question just sent his fellow biju holder an understanding nod, "It's alright Naruto, you go and do what you need to do. With this contract, there are sure to be other days for ramen."

With things settled with the Suna envoy Tsunade, Jiraiya, Naruto, and Shizune all made there way to the hospital, while the Suna Siblings made their way to the embassy building.

oo0oo

While the usual method of getting around was using the body-flicker, or roof-hopping, Jiraiya asked if they could walk to the hospital. When Naruto asked why. The Toad-Sannin just told him: "I have something I'd like to talk with you about. Besides, your friend's been in the hospital for about two months, I'm sure you can handle waiting a few minutes before seeing him."

While a part of Naruto still considered Sasuke a friend, another part had become wary of the vengeful Uchiha. Ever-since the incident in the Forest of Death, when they were attacked by Orochimaru, Sasuke had been acting stranger than usual. Add to that this incident with his brother, and Naruto couldn't help feeling that Sasuke was sitting on the razor's-edge emotionally.

"Alright Pervy-sage," Naruto spoke up, after walking for ten minutes, "what's this important thing you need to talk with me about?"

"Well Naruto, I've been thinking. With Orochimaru, and now the Akatsuki, taking an interest in you I think we need to step up your training. And while we could continue it here, I feel you'd be safer if we trained outside the village."

The blonde in question looked over at the hermit with suspicion, "And where exactly would we be going? I'm not too fond of the idea of being far from Konoha right now, I have some..._projects_ that need my attention right now."

"Projects? Well, if they're new jutsu then we can work on them together. Anything else and I think we can work through it."

_'Unfortunately, with what you seem to have planned, I won't be able to bring my projects along.'_

"So, explain how this...training trip, is going to work."

"Okay. What's going to happen is, we'll travel around the Elemental Countries, training you in how to control the Kyuubi's chakra, and improving your current skills. Traveling will help us keep you out of the clutches of Orochimaru and the Akatsuki, while allowing you to see the world outside of Konoha; sounds like a good idea huh?" Jiraiya's explanation had started off as a serious set of directions, but finished like a sales pitch, as if he was trying to sell Naruto on the idea.

Before Naruto could respond to the idea, the quartet arrived in front of the hospital.

oo0oo

After checking in with the receptionist at the front desk, the group of four made their way up the stairs and down a set of hallways to arrive at Sasuke's door. They'd chosen to check on the Uchiha first, due to the fact he'd suffered more severe mental damage, as well as physical damage, than Kakashi.

When they arrived at the door, what they saw through the window didn't surprise any of them.

Sasuke was sitting up in his bed, his raven-black hair disheveled and his gray t-shirt rumpled from laying in bed for so long; his legs were covered by the sheet of the bed. The group could see the Uchiha's muscles had visibly degraded due, again, to his inactivity, but he still held a look of strength.

Sitting directly by his bedside, and having seemingly never left according to the receptionist, was Sakura. Her hair had re-grown to reaching past her shoulders, after being cut during the chunin exams, and had the look that it'd been recently washed. She wore civilian-style clothing consisting of: a cherry-red t-shirt, sky-blue jeans, and pair of standard ninja sandals. The pink-haired kunoichi was currently trying to feed Sasuke a plate of sliced apples.

"Here Sasuke-kun, you need to eat so you can get your strength back."

Sasuke just sat there, his eyes stating down at his clenched fists. He hadn't even heard Sakura's offer; his mind was occupied with thoughts of his brother.

_'I didn't even stand a chance! Itachi defeated me like I was nothing; he even caught my chidori! I thought I'd closed the gap at least a little, but it's like I'm still that same weak academy student that froze on **that night**; I wasn't even a warm-up for him!' _Sasuke's self-loathing was brought to an end when he heard the door to is room open, and a group of four walked in.

"Sasuke Uchiha, it seems you've recovered enough that I can discharge you. Now this doesn't mean you can start any heavy training right away; that will have to wait a few more weeks. But I am clearing you to do simple exercises to help get you back into shape." When Tsunade finished her diagnoses, she noticed that the bedridden Uchiha had tensed.

"Is there something about my evaluation you disapprove of Sasuke?"

"As a matter-of-fact, yes, there is. How does anyone expect me to regain my families honor, if I'm being hindered at every turn?" His question was answered by Jiraiya:

"Uchiha, I don't know what you mean by "hindered." You have Konoha's top Jounin as your sensei, practically your personal mentor from what I've heard from Naruto, and a clan house full of scrolls to help you. What more could you need?"

Sasuke's answer came swiftly,"I could be trained by a Sannin."

"-sigh-, Unfortunately Sasuke-san, I'm already Naruto's mentor. But Tsunade is free to take on an apprentice-" The Toad-Sannin was cut-off by Naruto.

"Actually, Jiraiya, I was going to talk with Tsunade-sama about taking on Hinata as her new apprentice. I've noticed that she has a budding skill in medicine, and I was hoping Tsunade would help nurture that bud and show her how to perform medical-jutsu."

"Well we can discuss the idea of me taking on a new apprentice later," Tsunade began, "but first, we're going to go and check on Kakashi. Naruto, you can stay and catch up with Sasuke, and come visit Kakashi when you're done."

With those words said, the trio of adults left the room and walked towards the Jounin's room.

After they left Naruto turned to address his recently discharged team-mate, what he saw surprised him. Sasuke was trembling with anger, his fists were clenched tightly and his jaw was visibly clenched.

Sakura also noticed her loves aggravated body language, "Hey, Sasuke-kun, are you okay? If this is about the whole apprentice thing don't worry about it, there's no way Tsunade-sama will choose Hinata over you, you're going to get a Sannin for a teacher." As she spoke she reached out to touch the young Uchiha's shoulder, but her wrist was caught mid-reach.

Sasuke's mind was going a mile-a-minute, _'Who do they think they are! Naruto's just some no-name orphan, but he's getting training from Master Jiraiya, and now I hear that the dope is trying to get Tsunade to train that mousey Hyuga!? They don't even consider training me, they're just pushing me aside like my ambition doesn't matter! No one but me seems to care about the honor of the Uchiha; a founding clan of Konoha!' _His thoughts were interrupted when he heard his pink-haired team-mate address him. When she reached out to him, Sasuke shot out and caught her hand.

Sakura's eyes widened at the actions of her love. When he turned to look at her, she gasped at the sight of his eyes; sharingan blazing in each. Naruto stepped forward to try and calm the Uchiha down.

"Sasuke, what's wrong with you? Listen, if it's about the training situation, I'm sure we can-" He never got to finish, because Sasuke cut him off.

"Silence! I'm tired of all the disrespect that this village has shown to my family, you all owe us for even bothering to found this village!" Cobalt eyes lost their friendly light, and hardened into the "eyes of the wolf."

"Sasuke, I suggest you calm yourself before you do, or say something, you'll regret. I don't know where you got this idea that the village has forgotten your clans contributions, but it isn't true. The village has handed you **everything** since the night of the massacre!"

This proved to be the wrong thing to say, because the young sharingan wielder re-directed his blazing gaze over to Naruto, but unlike Sakura, the young emperor-in-training didn't flinch; he simply stared back.

The two boys entered into a fierce staring contest, but this was no mere game. This stare-down was a battle of will, the one who blinked or looked away was submitting, and acknowledging that the other was stronger.

Finally, Sakura decided she'd had enough, "Hey, you guys, let's all just calm down okay? Look it's nothing like that Sasuke-kun, the village loves you **and** the Uchiha clan. You said it yourself, they helped found the village, so how could anyone in the village think bad about them?" At this time she turned and sent a glare in Naruto's direction, "And Naruto! What are you doing trying to provoke Sasuke-kun, leave him alone!"

If Naruto heard anything Sakura said, he didn't show it. The blonde continued his stare-down with the bedridden Uchiha, and asked: "Sasuke, is there something you want from me?"

Sasuke smirked, his face twisting into a cold humor, "Actually yes, you and I never got to have our match. Don't you wanna see which of us is stronger?"

"No, not right now; not as you are. When I beat you, I want you to be at your best, so that there won't be any argument about "what would have happened" if you weren't crippled."

Naruto's refusal just angered Sasuke even more. In his mind it sounded like Naruto had already decided that Sasuke wasn't worth his time...and that was unacceptable.

"Don't make it sound like I need to be at full strength to defeat you Naruto. You may look different, but that doesn't mean you're any stronger than you were back in the academy. You're still the same dope you've always been!" As he spoke, Sasuke had moved to sit on the edge of the bed, and then stood on his feet.

"Sasuke-kun, you shouldn't-" Sakura began, but Sasuke interrupted her. "Shut up Sakura! This is between me and the clan-less orphan, this fight's been building up for years, and today's the day we settle this!"

With those words, the two boys made their way towards the roof of the building.

oo0oo

While this was going on, the trio of adults had made their way to Kakashi's hospital room. When they arrived, they were met with the sight of Konoha's Copy-ninja sitting up in bed, reading his Icha-Icha.

"Ah, Lady-Tsunade, you flatter this commoner with your presence. Can I take this to mean you're discharging me?"

"Don't give me any lines from that perverted book Kakashi," the slug-queen began, "and yes, I am here to inform you that both you, and Sasuke Uchiha, are being released today. But I'm going to tell you the same thing I told him: No extensive training, only light work-outs to help get you back into shape. I didn't mention this to Sasuke, but this also means that there won't be any out-of-village missions being assigned to your team, until you two are back to normal."

"-sigh- I was afraid you'd say that Hokage-sama. Sasuke won't be happy about this; you should have come to me first, and then had me talk to him." Tsunade lifted one of her elegant eyebrows at this.

"What do you mean Kakashi? I just got done talking to Sasuke, and he seemed to be taking it alright. Why do you think we should have left informing him up to you?"

"I say this because you don't know Sasuke like I do; you don't know how his mind works. Sasuke is going to take this as a challenge, like he has to do strenuous training now or he'll fall that much farther behind his brother. Sasuke is very prideful Milady."

Jiraiya decided he'd move the topic of discussion over to something he thought was more important.

"Lets put the little Uchiha's hurt feelings aside for a moment, and talk about Naruto now that we have the moment." This confused Kakashi.

"Naruto? I don't understand, did something happen, is he alright?"

"Oh it's nothing like that Kakashi," the Toad-Sannin responded, "it's just that the kid was acting strange when he came in to the office today; looks different too."

"Strange? Master Jiraiya what do you mean when you say "strange"? As we all know, that boy has always been strange, so you'll have to be more specific than that."

But before the Sannin could elaborate, the occupants of the room heard a scream. A scram that sounded like it was coming from the roof.

oo0oo

As the genin's of team 7 made their way to the roof, Sasuke moved out to the center, while Naruto walked to stand against him; Sakura staying by the door.

When he reached the center, Sasuke turned and stared into his team-mates cobalt eyes, "Naruto, today is the day. We're going to finally have our match, and see which of us is the strongest."

"Come then, and let us be done with this. I have better things to do than stand around looking at you all day." With that, Naruto unsheathed his gladius, and entered into his ready-stance.

_'When did the dope learn Kenjutsu? Never-mind, it doesn't change anything, he's still just the dope; I've had years of training in the Uchiha scrolls, he's had nothing...he **is nothing**!' _At the end of his thoughts Sasuke pulled out a kunai from his holster, and brought it in front of is face in a reverse-grip.

The two genin stood, eyes unblinking, waiting for the other to make the first move; it was the blonde who decided to strike first.

With an animalistic growl Naruto broke into a run and headed straight for Sasuke. Once he was within range, the blonde struck out with a windmill slash. When Sasuke blocked it the blonde swiftly retracted his arm, and tried for a horizontal strike to the Uchiha's side; this also missed its mark because Sasuke jumped back to avoid it.

When Naruto rushed forward Sasuke thought it was going to be an easy win, _'Typical Naruto, attack first and think later.' _But when he brought his kunai up to block the blondes sword, Sasuke had to grit his teeth to avoid screaming in pain, and tighten the muscles in his arms so as to keep from dropping his weapon. And before the young Uchiha could even think of a counter-attack, he was forced to jump back, so as to avoid being sliced in half.

Sasuke thought he'd gain a few moments of reprieve, but he was proven wrong when Naruto pursued him, and sent a jab at his chest. Sasuke barely managed to twist out of the way, and he used his momentum to land a roundhouse kick across Naruto's back.

The blonde was unprepared for his team-mate's counter-attack, and his lack of foresight sent him stumbling forward, where he swiftly regained his senses and threw his arm back in a blind sword sweep. The grunt of pain he heard let him know it was a smart decision.

When Sasuke caught Naruto with his kick he thought it was the beginning of the end, _'Ha, didn't even last five minutes,' _but when he went to press his attack, he was caught off-guard, and suffered a decent slice across his chest. Sasuke's gray t-shirt was rapidly being stained by the blood that seeped from his wound. After jumping back to reset himself, Sasuke looked over to his opponent and scowled when he noticed that Naruto looked untouched, and he wasn't even breathing hard yet. Deciding to kick things in to high-gear, Sasuke activated his sharingan.

With Sasuke retreating, Naruto got a moment to compose himself, and take stock of the situation. Turning around, Naruto set himself back into his defensive stance, and assessed the damage he'd done.

_'Hm, I got lucky. That wound will leave a scar, so it's deep enough that it'll impede his already weakened condition. But,now that he's activated his sharingan, how well will I fare? _With that thought in mind, Naruto chose not to engage, and instead wait for Sasuke to make the first move. He wasn't forced to wait long.

Sasuke stood, his two-tomoe sharingan blazing, waiting for Naruto to make the first move. He stood there for a moment, and then when he began to feel the effects of his wound, Sasuke knew he'd have to make the first move. So, going for something elementary, the last Uchiha reached into his pouch and produced a handful of shuriken. Throwing those first as a distraction, Sasuke waited until they were half-way to their target before disappearing from view, and then re-appearing at Naruto's unprotected back.

When he saw the shuriken flying his way, Naruto knew already what was coming next. So when Sasuke appeared behind him with his kunai raised to attack, Naruto responded by reaching back, trapping Sasuke in a one armed head-lock, and bringing the raven-haired genin over his shoulder; only to hold him there as a meat shield against the coming wave of shuriken. When they hit, a cloud of smoke filled Naruto's vision, and left him blind to the uppercut that sent him sailing back.

While Sasuke had been surprised by the head-lock, he managed to think fast and perform a substitution, leaving a log to take the damage. After his escape, Sasuke managed to find Naruto in the smoke and land a hit on him. When he saw the blonde land on his back Sasuke began a series of hand-signs.

Naruto sat up and wiped the blood from his mouth, _'Well, it seems this is going to be more fun than I thought. While I expected some kind of a fight, I didn't expect this haha.' _The blonde sat up and was met with the sight of his rival finishing a set of fire-style hand-signs. A moment later, and Naruto was barraged with a wave of miniature fireballs. "Jupiter fuck me."

Seeing he was next to a line of drying sheets, Naruto snatched the two closest to him, wrapped them around himself, and rolled through the storm of fire. When he landed on his feet the blonde quickly shed his makeshift armor, and rushed forward to re-engage Sasuke in close combat.

Once he reached him, Naruto started off with a jab. When that was hastily parried Naruto noticed an opening in Sasuke's side; he delivered an elbow into the Uchiha's ribs. With Sasuke off-guard, the blonde pressed his attack, and struck Sasuke's bleeding chest with his fist. As Sasuke sputtered in pain, Naruto decided to finish-up. So he locked a hand behind his rivals head, and brought it down to meet his rising knee; a 'crack' resounded through the air.

With Naruto finished with his attack Sasuke fell to his knees, clutching his bleeding face in pain. The Uchiha tightened his entire body trying to brace against the pain he felt. Looking up Sasuke was met with the sight of his rival looming over him, sword held at his side, and the sun shining behind him. Naruto looked like he was on fire, as if he was glowing with the flames of victory. Something Sasuke would **never** allow. Pushing past the pain,Sasuke shot like a rocket up towards his blonde team-mate, his kunai held once again in a reverse-grip and ready to slice into Naruto's unprotected throat.

What he thought was going to be the end, turned out to be a trick. Naruto had purposely left himself "open", in order to goad Sasuke into attacking; and in that way reveal that the Uchiha coveted his pride over their bond. So when his morally dark team-mate attacked, Naruto grabbed the outstretched wrist, twisted it behind Sasuke's back, and brought his gladius to his throat.

"It's over Sasuke, you lose." Even as he spoke those words, Naruto still had to tighten his hold on the struggling Uchiha.

"-grunt- No, i-it's not over, I'm not done yet! How did you get through my sharingan, I don't understand!?"

"Rock Lee already explained that, remember? He told you that, while your sharingan may be able to read your opponents movements, it doesn't do you any good if your body can't keep up. The bottom line is I'm simply faster than you...I'm better than you." Unfortunately, Sasuke couldn't accept this.

"**No**! No, I refuse to accept that! How could you have gotten so much better than me; you're a nobody, you have no clan or secret abilities, how could you be better than me...tell me how!?" Sasuke punctuated his frustrations with the twisting of his body, trying to escape from the painful hold Naruto had on him.

Naruto laughed in is head. While it was true he didn't have any secret abilities**, **he did have the secret of the Nine-Tailed Fox. Something he was grateful for when he thought about how much the demons healing came in handy. But then he thought about how Sasuke called him a nobody, and his face took on a furious look. Removing his blade from Sasuke's throat, Naruto shoved his beaten rival to the ground.

"A nobody?" Naruto growled out, "Who are you to call me a **nobody**? I am a Roman, the blood descendent of the greatest Roman to ever live. I am a member of the Julia, a clan descended from the gods themselves! It's **you** who is the nobody," at this point Naruto had raised his sword up, and was preparing to bring it down on the floored Sasuke, "and I'll make sure you don't ever forget that!"

But before he could swing his sword, Naruto was momentarily distracted when Sakura shouted out, "NARUTO, NO!"

Sakura had stood by and watched the entire fight unfold. Before they'd even arrived on the roof, the pink-haired kunoichi tried to persuade Sasuke not to fight in his current condition. But when her pleas fell on deaf ears, Sakura was left with no other choice than to watch. While she didn't fear Sasuke would lose,_ 'He could never lose to Naruto'_, what Sakura was afraid of was Sasuke injuring himself by pushing past his current limit.

When the fight started, Sakura relaxed, figuring she was right and that maybe Sasuke wouldn't have to push himself too hard. Sure Naruto had gotten better, but he was still no match for Sasuke.

But then Sasuke got hurt, and the young girls nerves started to fray again. The cut would surely leave a scar, if the speed of blood loss was anything to go by, and would set Sasuke back further in his recovery. Sakura was relieved when she saw Sasuke activate his sharingan, _'Naruto doesn't stand a chance now', _and while she was surprised when Sasuke's attack was foiled, Sakura mentally cheered at his use of the replacement technique; She had to hold back a verbal cheer when Sasuke landed his uppercut.

The rest of the battle went by in a blur for Sakura; the action happening to fast for Sakura's underdeveloped senses to follow. But then she saw Sasuke attempt to slit Naruto's throat, and she realized that this was no mere spar. Next came the exchange of words, and while Sakura didn't understand what Naruto meant, _'Roman? Julia?',_ she still felt that it didn't give the blonde the right to kill Sasuke! So she screamed.

In the brief moment that Naruto paused, the quartet of ninja from Kakashi's room all appeared in poofs of smoke on the roof. When they looked over the scene, all eyes widened in shock.

"Naruto," Kakashi spoke up, "what are you doing? Why is Sasuke on the ground and you're standing over him, looking ready to lop his head off?"

Instead of answering, Naruto sheathed his gladius, and looked over at Jiraiya, "That whole training trip idea, you should probably forget about that because there's no way the council's gonna allow that now. Not when they learn about what happened here." The blondes dismissal didn't sit well with the Copy-ninja.

"Naruto I asked you a question, and as your superior officer, I expect an answer."

"When I put on this headband Kakashi," Naruto finally directed at his sensei, "I swore loyalty to my **Hokage**, not the village, and definitely not to you."

Tsunade decided to use that to get answers, "Alright then genin Uzumaki, would you please tell us what happened here, and why we found you in such a compromising position?"

"As you wish, Hokage-sama," the blondes formality made Tsunade deflate; she missed her nickname, " When you all left, Sasuke challenged me to battle. Naturally, I accepted. What you all entered in on, was the aftermath of the Uchiha's defeat, and his inability to accept it."

Kakashi decided he didn't like the explanation, "Naruto, that's very vague. We're going to have to take statements from all three of you; and if what you say doesn't coincide with what your team-mate's say, you very well may be suspended."

Hearing his possible punishment didn't really phase Naruto. He'd have more time to train, learn, and maneuver during his suspension; starting with the downtrodden Hokage.

"Well I that's all you're going to say, then I suppose you can send for me when you've all decided my punishment. Until then, I'd like to be left alone; I have things to do." With that, Naruto exited the rooftop, and left the group of six to their own devices.

"Now do you see what I meant by strange Kakashi? Did that seem anything like the Naruto you took on as a student a year ago?"

The silver-haired Jounin looked over to the Sannin that had spoken and replied, "No, Lord Jiraiya, it doesn't. Do we know what brought this on?"

"I've got my spy network in Wave right now. According to Kurenai Yuhi, she lead a diplomatic mission to the country with Naruto as a member of the team, and ever since then, he's been acting strange."

"Who were the other members?" Kakashi questioned, "Maybe we can get some new information from them." It was Shizune who answered.

"The other two members of the squad were Ino Yamanaka and Hinata Hyuga, they were assigned because, at the time, every other genin was currently on a mission or had just reported in from one."

Hearing Hinata's name made Kakashi pinch his nose between his thumb and index finger. He, like everyone else with common sense, knew of the Hyuga heiress' feelings for the boy, and so the Copy-ninja guessed he wouldn't get much of anything out of her.

"Well we'll start with Ino, and hopefully get enough information that we can piece this puzzle together, because I'm getting tired of all this mystery."

oo0oo

Ino was, at that time, actually in Naruto's apartment cleaning up. While the place wasn't very big, her fellow blonde tended to be messy. "And knowing Naruto-kun, he'd prefer to know where these are at all times." Ino muttered out as she set Caesar's military logs neatly in a drawer.

After their initial _interaction_ at the training field, Ino had stopped by Naruto's apartment, on his orders, and done chores around the house or just to help Naruto relax after a full day of training. But in spite of this Ino knew her place with Naruto. She was his body-slave and political alliance, she wasn't in the same league as _Hinata._

While her Dominus made it seem like Hinata was just another alliance and slave, Ino could see the underlying tone of warmth in Naruto's otherwise cold, cobalt eyes when he spoke of her and is plans for the young blunette. When she'd asked him why he hadn't been intimate with Hinata, Naruto had told her that "strategically given offerings of affection will help with her training," but Ino could tell that Naruto was trying to convince himself, rather than Ino.

Knowing that Hinata already held a special position with Naruto made Ino frown. "What does she have that I don't"

"Well for starters, she doesn't question my decisions."

The extra voice made Ino jump, dropping Naruto's cuirass which she'd been told to polish. Turning, Ino began to yell at the intruder, "Whoever you are, you better get out of here or else-", her tirade was cut short when she realized who had spoken.

Naruto stood in the doorway of his room, arms placed in the same fashion as when he was in the Hokage's office, and his eyes holding a disapproving gleam. "Or else what, **slave**?"

The tone in which he spoke to her let Ino know that her next words had better be convincing, or she'd suffer for raising her voice to her Dominus.

"A-Ah, Dominus, I-I didn't know it was you. I thought you were still instructing Hinata-sama in combat. Please, excuse my outburst, had I known-" her next words were caught in her throat when Naruto seemed to appear inches from her, eyes hard with aggravation.

"Had you known you would have kept your thoughts to yourself, is that it? Ino you need to realize that this isn't some silly game. It's not like back at the academy where all the girls fought for Sasuke's attention by trying to outdo one-another. Hinata has skills that are invaluable to my mission, skills that you do not posses. Now, this does not mean you are not important, or will be thrown aside, but you will **not** make trouble with Hinata or any other girl that comes into this circle; do you understand!?"

Ino was trembling. Never had she seen her master like this; it frightened her. "Y-Yes Dominus, I-I understand. P-Please, forgive me, I overstepped."

"Yes, you did, and because of that you're not going to enjoy the foreseeable future."

Ino's only response was a small whimper.

oo0oo

Night had fallen in Konoha, and most of the village was either already asleep, or preparing for the journey into dreamland. Most, but not all.

Sasuke Uchiha was sitting on the roof of one of his compounds buildings. He sat with his right arm resting on his right knee, his left arm propped behind him holding up his weight, and his left leg stretched out in front of him. He wore his usual khaki shorts and blue, high-collard Uchiha shirt.

Currently, the avenger was playing back the battle he'd had on the hospital rooftop with Naruto. Sasuke was analyzing every aspect of the battle, trying to figure out where he'd lost control. The conclusion he came to wasn't one he favored; he never had control. Naruto had dominated the entire fight. Even when Sasuke managed to catch him off-guard, Naruto had turned it into an advantage for him.

Then came the ultimate humiliation; when Naruto had tricked him. _'And I fell for it! My family would be ashamed of me. How can I hope to restore their honor, when I can't even beat the class-clown!?'_

"This is the fuck-boy Orochimaru told us to pick up? He can't be **that** special if he couldn't even detect us sneaking up on him." Hearing the new voice behind him, Sasuke jumped, and entered into a defensive stance.

Standing on the upper-edge of the roof were four figures, each wearing gray v-neck shirts, black pants, and purple...bows, around their waists. One was a large male with an orange mohawk, another was a sickly looking youth with silver hair and a strange bundle on his back, standing next to him was a tanned youth with his black hair up in a ponytail and six arms. And finally, on the far right, stood the only female. She had long, red hair and light-brown eyes. The girl wore a skull cap with the rim wrapped in bandages, and held a flute in her hand.

"Now Tayuya," the silver-haired youth spoke up, "don't be brash, he might actually be of some use. After all, have you ever known Orochimaru-sama to take interest in someone that was boring?"

The girl, Tayuya, turned to the one who answered her and growled out, "That was a rhetorical question dumb-ass, I could care less what Orochimaru needs this chicken-shit wimp for. Besides Sakon, you and I both know that blonde kid is more valuable than this _loser_."

Hearing the Tayuya girl elude to Naruto being better than him brought back the anger and frustration that Sasuke had been feeling about their fight earlier that day. "Naruto is **not** better than me, you red-headed bitch!"

"Ha! If he's not better than you, then how come we saw Blondie whoop your sorry ass on top of that hospital, huh?"

Sasuke could feel the growl vibrate in his throat as he shot back, "He got lucky! If I'd been at full strength, he wouldn't have stood a chance!"

"Funny," the one with six arms spoke up, "we heard him tell that cyclops that it was **you** who challenged **him** to a fight. All that says about you is that you're stupid **and** weak hahaha."

By this point Sasuke was at the end of his rope. He'd been defeated by his brother AGAIN, been defeated by the class-clown, and now he was being ridiculed by a group of...of...FREAKS! This was unacceptable, it was an insult to his families honor; and Sasuke felt there was only one way to remedy dress that injury. Blood.

Activating his sharingan, and letting loose an animalistic snarl, Sasuke seemed to disappear as he shot forward towards the quartet. Deciding to start with the foul-mouthed read-head, Sasuke appeared in a crouched position in front of her, and kicked her in the chin; the start of his {Lions Barrage}.

When she was at a considerably high altitude, Sasuke rocketed up after her. He got behind her, ready to end her with this one move, but was surprised when, as he went to lock her in a hold, she seemed to vanish. But Sasuke didn't get much time to think on this, because he was soon hit with a drop-kick to his stomach; and sent crashing back down onto the roof.

Fighting through the pain, Sasuke planted his hands firmly on the tile and flipped himself into a crouched position; his eyes rapidly scanning his surroundings. The young Uchiha's wariness paid off when he managed to catch an axe-kick meant to split open his skull.

Hoping to regain the upper-hand, Sasuke attempted to sweep-kick Tayuya's other leg out from under her. He was successful, but the red-head merely twisted in mid-air, placed one palm flat on the roof, and pushing herself away from Sasuke.

When she landed, Tayuya was met, like Naruto, with a volley of fireballs. However, unlike Naruto, she simply brought her flute up to her lips, and played a hauntingly beautiful tune. What happened next shocked Sasuke.

The fireballs didn't hit Tayuya. Instead, they were stopped by an invisible wall, and quickly extinguished. "What! What just happened?!"

Sasuke's red-haired opponent just laughed, before saying, "Hahahaha, you thought I was kidding when I said you weren't shit, loser? I am Tayuya of the North Gate, a member of Orochimaru's elite personal guard, do you really think you're a match for me?"

The name "Orochimaru" brought back memories of the chunin exams; of the "gift" Sasuke had been given. And of the _power_ it granted him. Deciding he'd use that power to shut the red-head up and prove his strength, Sasuke called upon the dark chakra that coursed through his pathways, and felt as the black flames spread across his body. _'This, combined with my sharingan, will be more than enough to defeat that bitch!' _Rushing in again, Sasuke started off with a feint, and then spun to deliver a roundhouse-kick to the girls head.

While Sasuke felt like he was moving at, at least, Jounin speed Tayuya was still able to follow him with her eyes; and this allowed her to catch the foot that would have given a concussion to a lesser ninja.

"I'll admit you caught me off-guard the first time around. But now that I know how fast you move, it's easy to adjust myself to your _inferior_ speed. It's like I already said, you don't stand a chance against me. And if I'm toying with you without having to use my curse-mark, and saying Blondie is better than you, then it's the truth. I'd rather be taking him back to Oto than your sorry ass."

Hearing this, and hearing that he wasn't the only one with a curse-mark, chipped away heavily at Sasuke's pride. And it must have shown on his face, because Tayuya started to laugh.

"Hahahaha, what, did you think you were _special_? That Orochimaru only gave you curse-mark, and that there wasn't anyone else in the Elemental Nations that could possibly survive it; let me guess, he told you the whole thing about how all the subjects he gave the mark to died, right?" At this, the red-headed kunoichi couldn't help but rub more salt on Sasuke's wounded pride,

"The funniest part is, there was someone before you, and before us, who received the curse-mark and lived. The stupid snake says the kunoichi was a failed experiment, but I can see it in his eyes; he wishes he could have kept her, wishes she hadn't realized what a fucking sadistic bastard he was. So you see, you're not special, you're **nothing**."

The whole time the sadistic red-head was giving her speech, Sasuke was trying to wrench his leg free from her iron grip. When she finally let go Sasuke dropped to his knees, fists pounding into the tile of the roof, and screamed.

_'I CAN'T be nothing, it's just not true! I am a member of the Uchiha clan, one of the oldest and most powerful clans in all of ninja history, I know I'm better than this!'_

Ending his assault on the beaten tile, Sasuke looked up to the kunoichi who handed him his second defeat that day, and asked: "Did Orochimaru make you that strong? Can he make me as strong as you?"

"Yes, we of the Sound Four were personally trained by Orochimaru. And yes, he can make you as strong, likely even stronger, than any of the four of us.

Sasuke lowered his head in begrudging submission, "Then take me to him."

"Alright. You're going to meet us on the outskirts of your villages boarders, and we'll depart for Oto. We aren't going to travel together until then, because it's too risky, so use this time to pack anything you think you'll need, and then head out." After finishing her instructions, Tayuya and the rest of the Sound Four disappeared in clouds of smoke.

When they left Sasuke looked over to a building across the street, and stared at the Uchiha crest painted proudly on the wall. _'Don't worry mother, father. Soon I'll get the strength I need to restore the honor of our name.' _And with that, Sasuke went to pack for his trip.

oo0oo

Hinata was practicing her sword strikes against an oak tree. Naruto's clones had dispelled hours ago, while the sun was still up, but their parting words rang in the Hyuga girls ears, "Hard work (huff) is rewarded (huff) with favor," she spoke as she continued her swings. It had become her mantra.

After the clones left her to train alone, Hinata was forced to improvise for her lack of swords. The Hyuga heiress took a trip to visit her cousin's team-mate, Ten-Ten. After Naruto defeated Neji the two Hyuga's relationship had begun to mend and had gotten to the point where Hinata was spending her off-time getting to know Neji's team. So Hinata visited Ten-Ten, and asked to purchase two bokken until she could order a set of blades for herself.

Before leaving, the heiress made a request to the weapons-mistress about the bokken:

"_You want me to what?" Ten-Ten asked, never hearing such a request before._

"_I'd like it if you could shorten the bokken for me. I know there are practice swords, but I just prefer to use these for right now, but they're too long and practicing with them as they are will throw-off my form."_

_While Hinata's explanation made sense, there was still one thing that the bun-haired girl was having trouble grasping, "But...you're a Hyuga, and don't Hyuga practice the Gentle-Fist style? What need would you have for swords?"_

_Hinata had been expecting such a question, and had prepared an answer beforehand, "I am, and we do, but what happens when I go up against an opponent who can cancel out my byakugan, and renders my Gentle-Fist useless? I'll need a fall-back."_

"_Uhm, I guess that makes sense. Okay Hinata, give me a few minutes and I'll have these two bokken set and ready to go." With that, Ten-Ten walked into the back-room to begin working on the unusual request._

And so it was that Hinata received her two personalized practice swords. She'd tested different stances, weighing the pro's and con's of each, as well as practiced maneuvers against the three training posts in the center of the field.

Sometime during her training Hinata began to think of ways to incorporate _chakra_ into her swordplay. While she understood her loves desire to prove the might of the Roman empire through brute strength, Hinata also understood that times had changed, and if you didn't adapt to it, you would be destroyed by it. _'I just hope Naruto-kun isn't angered by my idea. I only want to help, and I feel that this could be useful.'_

Pulling back from the tree she'd been whacking away at, Hinata wiped her brow with her sleeve. Through numerous rounds with Naruto's clone,the bluenettes hoodie had become unwearable, and she'd shed it shortly after the last one had popped. She was too embarrassed to do so any earlier, knowing that the image of her uncovered body would go back to the original.

So now the young kunoichi was left in a thin, black, long-sleeved shirt and a mesh under-shirt. The thinness of the shirt showing off her quickly developing figure.

Deciding that she needed energy for tomorrow, Hinata began to move towards the tattered remains of her coat, when the rustling of leaves alerted her to a presence nearby. Activating her byakugan, Hinata was surprised to see Sasuke Uchiha walking into the clearing. She deactivated her dojutsu

"H-Hello Sasuke-san, w-what brings you out to the training fields a-at this hour?"

The look on the Uchiha's face was difficult for the young girl to read. He didn't appear angry or annoyed like usual, no, he had a set look about him. His eyebrows were furrowed just slightly, and his mouth was relieved of its usual scowl to be replaced by just a thin line. This was a side of the Uchiha boy Hinata had never seen.

"Hinata," Sasuke broke the girl from her thoughts, "I wasn't expecting anyone to be out here this late. What are you doing here?"

The boys tone was polite enough, that Hinata felt he deserved an answer, "I-I'm training Sasuke-san. I've decided to take up Kenjutsu." The girl noticed that the mention of swordsmanship made Sasuke tense up.

"Kenjutsu huh? This wouldn't happen to have anything to do with the fact that _Naruto_ has taken an interest in it...would it?"

Hearing Sasuke say her loves name as if it left a foul taste in his mouth, made Hinata upset. What had her Naruto-kun done to provoke such a disrespectful response? _'No doubt it's just Sasuke-san's jealousy of Naruto-kun's rising skill.'_

"As a matter-of-fact, yes, it does have to do with Naruto-kun's sudden interest. He's asked me to take up the practice, so that he and I can work that much better together when we're sent on the same mission. He's also going to talk Hokage-sama into taking me on as her new apprentice."

Hearing Hinata's response made Sasuke laugh a little, but when she mentioned getting training from Tsunade, he became angry again. _'That should be me!' _But then the Uchiha youth remembered where he was going, and his scowl turned into a smile.

"That's good for you. It's interesting to see, considering you were so mousey and shy back in the academy. So now Naruto, you, and I are being trained by Sannin."

Sasuke's remark confused Hinata, _'But..there are only two Sannin in Konoha. Naruto is training under Jiraiya-sama, and I'm going to get training from Lady-Tsunade, so where...will..he' _The realization was made when she checked her fellow graduates forehead, and noticed that it was absent the haiti-ete he'd received upon graduation. The same haiti-ete that signified him as a ninja of the leaf, and not a...rouge.

Sasuke watched the realization play across the young kunoichi's face, and the truth really hitting her when she noticed his bare forehead. "Why the look Hinata? After all, it's your _boyfriend's _fault."

When Sasuke snarled out the word boyfriend Hinata's sense returned to the moment, and she felt her anger rise again. "What do you mean it's Naruto-kun's fault? How is he responsible for your decision to leave the village!?"

"I don't have to explain myself to the likes of you. And besides, you're so blinded by your weak, pathetic feelings for that _loser_ that you wouldn't be able to accept the truth anyway."

"Don't call my Naruto-kun a loser! If anything **you're** the loser for deciding to run away from your village because you're afraid that your own team-mate is getting stronger-"

"HE IS NOT STRONGER THAN ME!" Sasuke was beginning to lose his cool, as well as tired of Hinata's, in his mind, defiance.

"Regardless of Naruto's strength compared to yours, you are attempting to abandon the Leaf village; a crime punishable by death." Hinata let her bokken drop and entered her Gentle-Fist stance. "If you turn around and go home, I won't report this. But if you insist on trying to leave then I will be forced to stop you."

Sasuke entered into the Uchiha's prized 'Interceptor Fist' and responded, "No, you'll be forced to try."

oo0oo

_A/N: Hey, here's the next chapter :) I've introduced Temari, who will be receiving more scenes in the future. Hinata's sword style is that of Spartacus and Gannicus from the show. And Ino has begun to show hints of jealousy towards Hinata's position at Naruto's side._

_The (*) is because, if you have trouble picturing it, check War of the Damned episode 2(it's Caesar's first appearance) That's basically what Naruto looks like, minus the facial-hair and his tunic is red._

_I tried to do something interesting by having Hinata be the one who runs into the fleeing Sasuke. It's not new because there was a story I read where the idea was used, but I just thought it'd be fun. And it gives Naruto new motivation during the retrieval mission, instead of that whole stupid crying scene with Sakura(I'll be doing that scene MY way). _

_Kakashi's been added to the conspirators, and Jiraiya's wariness has grown. I'm trying not to bring the spy network information in until AFTER Naruto's been banished, but it's hard to hold it back because I want everyone to be in on it and choose there sides XD_

_Naruto has begun to take real pride in his heritage, so you'll see more of that. And tell me what you think about Sasuke, because I'm trying to make him into an interesting character to read, since he's going to be a major player in the story(I know what I'm going to do with him now lol) I'm trying to make him proud without being overbearingly arrogant, with a deep sense of respect for his clan._

_Well, I can't think of anything else to comment about, so I'll leave you guys to review, ask questions, and enjoy. _

_And Naruto dons his Roman armor for the first time next chapter XD _


	8. Unius enim honor acerrimum

_A/N: Usually I don't do these at the beginning too, but I felt it appropriate this chapter. Naruto will be showing more emotion in this chapter; I know some of you've said he's acting cold. I want to show that he does in fact have a soft spot for Hinata. Speaking of Hinata, she's going to be on the receiving end of some very...unorthodox interrogation methods at the hands of Kurenai, but I feel that Hinata would never give up information under pain; she seems too strong-willed for that. And I came to realize, through reading KingKakashi's "Aftermath" story, that a fanfic can be serious **and** lighthearted at the same time; you just have to be able to give both equal amounts of use. _

_Other than that, I'm not sure there are anymore curve-balls in this chapter, so, enjoy._

**Ch. 8- Unius enim honor acerrimum**

**(For the honor of one held close)**

"No, you'll be forced to **try**."

Uchiha and Hyuga stared each other down, both waiting for the other to make the first. Hinata knew the Interceptor Fist relied on countering your opponents moves, and then capitalizing on the opening in their defense. And even if Sasuke didn't have his sharingan activated, the style was still dangerous.

Sasuke realized that the longer her stood still, the less chance he'd have of escaping, so he broke his stance, and charged his opponent.

Hoping to end the fight quickly, Sasuke feinted with his right fist, and brought his left to bury itself into Hinata's stomach. He followed this up with an upper-cut that knocked the heiress off her feet, and landing hard on her back. Trying to capitalize again, Sasuke brought out a kunai, and leaps forward; hoping to bury the blade in Hinata's chest.

Hinata had been surprised at the speed Sasuke demonstrated despite just being released from the hospital. This shock cost her when she was caught off-guard by Sasuke's feint, and then on the receiving end of a gut-busting shot to the stomach. Hinata wasn't afforded any time before she was hit in the chin and sent sailing onto her back. Luckily, she managed to open her eyes in time to see her opponent jump at her.

When Sasuke was in range, Hinata curled her legs back, and slammed her feet into his chest sending him flying back, landing with a loud "thud", on the ground. With a moments rest Hinata sat up on her knees and took stock of her condition.

She felt her stomach and noticed that a bruise would form where she'd been hit if she didn't apply treatment. Next she checked her mouth, and thankfully, found it to only be a little sore; nothing that would impede her ability to fight. So, taking advantage of the time she was given, Hinata applied a basic medical-jutsu to her stomach to avoid any bruising.

Sasuke wasn't as lucky. The young Uchiha could feel blood leaking from the wound on his chest, and his back ached from the impact with the ground. _'Gah, that bitch! She's going to pay for this!'_

Pulling himself together, Sasuke pushed himself into a crouching position, and looked over to Hinata. _'She knows medical-jutsu!? Damn it, this isn't good. If I give her too much space she can just undo all the damage I inflict; I'll have to be careful.'_

With his thoughts in order, Sasuke stood up, and addressed the Hyuga heiress, "Hinata, I feel it's only fare to warn you, that you have no hope of beating me. I haven't even activated my sharingan and already you're resorting to medical-jutsu. Why don't you just stand aside, and that way, I won't have to ruin that pretty face of yours, hm?"

Hearing Sasuke's voice alerted Hinata that her time was up. But it gave her the advantage of allowing her time to get ready for her opponents next assault. Deciding to continue fighting, Hinata stood up, and re-entered into the Gentle-Fist stance; this time with byakugan blazing.

Receiving his answer, Sasuke also stood. But he was not allowed time to ready himself before Hinata was upon him. Sasuke was forced to dodge a two-fingered strike aimed at his chest. When he tried to counter-attack, Hinata ducked under his left hook, and closed off two of his tenketsu before jumping back.

Taking note that his chakra was now off-balance, Sasuke decided to test just how seriously he'd been hindered. So, going through his favorite hand-signs, the Uchiha brought his hand up to his mouth and called out, "{Great Fireball-Jutsu}". The move required a bit more concentration, but nothing Sasuke thought was worth worrying about.

When Hinata saw the giant ball of fire charging towards her, she knew that if she dodged to either side Sasuke would be ready for her; so she jumped. The Hyuga heiress barely managed to escape being caught by the flames.

Choosing again to go on the offensive, Hinata reached into her pouch, and produced a handful of shuriken. Throwing them, Hinata let herself drop to the ground, before she rushed Sasuke. Her plan backfired however when Sasuke performed another set of hand-signs, jumped back, and let loose a barrage of mini-fireballs.

Seeing no way to dodge, Hinata performed a substitution, and placed herself on the side-lines of the training ground. But when she looked around, the Hyuga heiress was unable to spot Sasuke. Re-activating her byakugan, which had been deactivated while avoiding the fireball, Hinata **just** managed to catch a glimpse of Sasuke underneath her, and rolled forward to avoid his reaching hands.

Sasuke shot up out of the ground, his {Head-Hunter-Jutsu} failing; luckily he managed to catch sight of Hinata lunging for a palm-strike. Ducking her attack, Sasuke gripped the outstretched arm, swung Hinata around, and threw her back into the center of the field. When he finished placing distance between them, Sasuke allowed himself to cringe from the pain in his chest; his wound having been opened farther due to his rapid movements.

_'I have to end this soon, or I might succumb to this wound.' _Steeling himself, Sasuke activated his sharingan, and walked away from the edge of the training field; waiting for his opponent.

Hinata a pushed herself up from the ground and blinked the cobwebs from her brain. _'When did Sasuke-san learn **that**? I don't remember him ever knowing any form of Earth-Stlye.'_. Deciding to place such thoughts in the back of her mind Hinata looked over to the Uchiha, and felt a twinge of fear at seeing his sharingan activated. _'With two tomoes each!'_

Hoping to catch him off-guard again, Hinata charged at Sasuke. Opting for a palm-strike strike to the chest, Hinata wasn't too surprised when the sharingan wielder parried her blow. Thinking fast Hinata used her momentum to enter into a roundhouse kick. This time she **was** shocked, when Sasuke took hold of her leg, and simply pushed her over.

Landing on her hands and knees, Hinata felt her body ache and her breath catch in her throat. The heiress realized that she hadn't recovered enough from her training, and was now running on fumes. _'But I can't just let Sasuke walk away!'_ Hinata shot out her leg and spun, hoping to sweep Sasuke's legs out from under him; she missed. But she used that momentum to jump away from her opponent.

Sasuke had seen Hinata's movements as if she were going in slow motion, and had no problem stepping over the girls feeble attempt at an attack. When she jumped away from him Sasuke chuckled to himself, _'She's getting tired. That last attack was significantly slower than the ones she was throwing out before her last impact with the ground; this fights over.'_

As if to confirm the Uchiha's thoughts, Hinata stood in a slouched Gentle-Fist stance, and was taking in heavy breathes. When Hinata charged again Sasuke didn't even bother to enter into a fighting stance; considering it a waste of time.

As she charged, Hinata noticed that Sasuke hadn't adopted a defensive stance. Angered at her opponents lack of concern, Hinata mentally formulated an attack pattern to teach the Uchiha that she wasn't to be underestimated.

Using the lack of sun to her advantage, Hinata performed the clone technique,and in an explosion of smoke there were two more Hinata's; their lack of shadow unseen because of the lack of light-source. The two Hinata's on the outside made moves to attack from Sasuke's left and right, while the middle one jumped into the air.

Sasuke, with the aid of his sharingan, noticed that the Hinata in the air and the one on his left didn't disrupt the grass when they ran at him; showing him that the Hinata on his right was the one he had to engage. When she got within range Sasuke ducked under her first strike, and moved inside her guard to begin his assault. The Uchiha locked his hands behind Hinata's head and brought it down to meet his knee; only for the girl to explode into a cloud of smoke.

While Sasuke was caught in shock Hinata rushed in from behind, having used a substitution while she was enshrouded in the clones smoke. _'I'll have to thank Naruto for allowing me to see his {Shadow-Clone} technique.' _While her clones distracted Sasuke, Hinata had gathered up her bokken and sharpened them with chakra; a thin layer lining the edges. As she reached the dissipating cloud of smoke Hinata entered into a basic sword routine she'd worked on earlier.

Hinata started off with a horizontal slash across Sasuke's back with her right blade. Then, she spun around to his front and punched the Uchiha in the stomach with her left fist. This was followed by a rising-slash, up the chest, with her right blade again. As she was coming down from her jump, Hinata slammed the hilt of one of her bokken into Sasuke's skull. The Hyuga heiress finished her routine, she thought of a follow-up attack, and moved to stab the bokken into Sasuke's shoulders; intent on lifting herself, and using her flexibility to perform an ax-kick on the boys head. This failed when her opponent grabbed her wrists, and head butted Hinata; a 'crack' echoing throughout the training field.

Sasuke hadn't been expecting Hinata to know the {Shadow-Clone} technique, and was momentarily stunned when the Hinata he hit exploded into a cloud of smoke. This lack of focus would cost him when he felt a razor-sharp pain across his back. But the Uchiha didn't have time to think about that, because soon his stomach was assaulted by Hinata's fist. As Sasuke let loose a gob of blood and spit, he was once again introduced to that razor-sharp feeling; only this time on his chest; which re-introduced the wound Naruto had given him earlier. And just when he thought it was over, his head was assaulted next with the force of a blunt object.

Sasuke was given a brief moment of reprieve after that, and he used this time to catch a glimpse of Hinata trying to continue her attack. _'I don't think so!'_ And he grabbed hold of his attackers wrists, before introducing his forehead to hers in a sickening headbutt.

Letting go of the Hyuga heiress' wrists, Sasuke introduced his knee to **her** stomach, before delivering a bicycle-kick to her chin; sending Hinata staggering back, but still on her feet. _'Well now, that just won't do.'_

Sasuke casually walked up to Hinata, who was holding her bleeding mouth, and back-handed her to the ground. As she lay there groaning in pain, Sasuke loomed over her, sharingan eyes glowing ominously, and said, "Now then, I think it's time you were taught a lesson in who towers above you."

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Naruto was awoken by the sound of someone banging on his apartment door. "_Fucking shit_," Naruto hissed out to himself. "ALRIGHT ALREADY, I'M AWAKE!" He screamed to his visitor.

Sitting up in bed, Naruto took a moment to gather himself together. Looking around the room he noticed a naked Ino frog-tied on his floor and a vibrator inserted into her womanhood and taped to her nipples; her first stage of punishment. He'd set it up so that the vibrator's intensity would fluctuate, never allowing the platinum-blonde to reach an orgasm. She'd been gagged, of course, to keep her from ruining his sleep.

Deciding he couldn't answer the door naked, Naruto walked over to his closet and retrieved his tunic; looking good as new after being mended by Ayame Ichiraku. _'Who knew she could sow?' _The blonde fastened his weapons into place and went to untie Ino so she could get re-dressed. "Hurry up, I don't want to have to listen to anymore knocking."

Once she was presentable Naruto walked into his living room and opened the door. Cobalt-blue eyes narrowed at seeing **another** ANBU agent had been sent for him._ 'What could I __**possibly**__ be needed for now?'_

"To what do I owe the pleasure of your company so early this morning ANBU-san?"

"Hokage-sama has requested your presence at the hospital Naruto-san. She says it's urgent."

"And what could possibly be _so_ interesting at the hospital, that my presence is necessary?"

"It involves Hinata Hyuga." The moment the words left his mouth, the ANBU found himself face-to-face with a stone-faced blonde.

The second Hinata's name left the masked ninja's mouth, Naruto had taken hold of the front of his armor plate, and yanked him down to eye-level. "Why is Hinata Hyuga in the hospital ANBU-san? When I left her yesterday Miss Hyuga was fine, so WHY is she in the hospital NOW!?"

"I'm not sure Naruto-san, all I know is that Lady-Tsunade asked me to relay this message to you." The ANBU's tone never wavered, years of suicidal missions having jaded him to the practice of intimidation.

Seeing that any more questioning would only bring a similar response, Naruto let go of the masked ninja, "Very well. If you could, go back to Tsunade and inform her that Ino and I are on our way." With that Naruto slammed the door in the ANBU's face, then punched a hole in his wall out of frustration.

"What do you think could have happened to her?"

Naruto turned to look at his fellow blonde, "Did you not just hear me ask the ANBU that same question? The only way we're going to learn what happened, is if we go to the hospital." At this point the young Roman had laced on his leather bracers and put on his boots. "Let's go"

No more words were spoken as master and slave exited the apartment and made their way to the hospital. But as they walked the streets, both minds were clouded by thought.

_'How could this happen? When my clones dispersed she was fine, so what could have happened after they left her alone?' _Were the primary thoughts racing through Naruto's mind. The blonde told himself the worry was for his greatest weapon and it's ability to be useful, but in the back of his mind Naruto heard a voice tell him that it was much more than that.

Ino's thoughts,however, found themselves treading down a different path, _'If Hinata's hurt, maybe it will make Master rethink our positions. Hinata thinks she's so special, well I'll show her **and** Master. I'll prove that I have just as much value as that mousy little whore.' _Ino, after multiple sexual episodes with Naruto, had developed an emotional attachment to her master; and with feelings came jealousy.

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After arriving at the hospital, the two blondes ran into a bit of trouble.

When Naruto asked the receptionist what room Hinata was in he was met with a hateful look and then an upturned nose as she responded, "Lady Hinata doesn't need to be disturbed by the likes of you, she's being visited by a group of respectable ninja, including two of the Sannin, and I am sure that they don't wish to have you there tainting the heiress with your vile presence."

The pair of blondes stood and stared at the woman; one in confusion the other in quiet fury. Then, faster than anyone could see, Naruto had the woman held at knife-point. He had his left hand gripping the back of her head while his right held his pugio at her throat.

"_Speak like that to me again, and I will cut open your throat!_" The blonde whispered. "Now, you're going to tell me what room Hinata Hyuga's staying in, and you are going to do it before I count to five. Because if you don't,I'm going to make sure that no one's ever going to wanna look at your face again, **understand**!?"

The receptionists body trembled as her eyes, glistening with unshed tears. She was only in her mid-twenties, and she'd just gotten this job a week ago! Deciding that she valued her life more than her hatred for the boy in front of her, she stuttered out, "S-She's b-being kept in r-room 321. P-Please, I-I'm sorry, p-please don't hurt me." By this point the woman was crying, fearing for her well-being.

Seeing that he'd gotten the information he wanted, Naruto let go, sheathed his dagger, and walked in the direction of the stairs; Ino wordlessly following behind, not daring to question her master's methods of persuasion.

When they arrived at Hinata's room the two blondes noticed that it was indeed packed with people.

Her team was, obviously, present, along with Team Guy; Neji taking a seat by his cousin's bedside. Also present was the rest of Team 10, each member finding a place against the wall. But what surprised Naruto, was that only **two** members of his own squad were here. _'Where the heck is Sasuke?'_

While it was true that the two of them had fought the day before, Naruto felt that such an incident would be put aside in light of the attack on Hinata. With his mind set on getting answers, Naruto opened the door, and marched inside; making his way to Hinata's bedside.

"...Would someone like to tell me what happened?" The blonde started off. "When my clones left her, Hinata was fine, but now...now she's laying **here**; in the **hospital." **Naruto's tone held an edge to it. One that said that someone better speak up quick, or there would be problems.

"I suggest you lose the attitude genin Uzumaki," Kurenai spoke up," you do not hold any form of authority so I suggest you don't act as if you can demand answers from us."

"My apologies Yuhi-san, I'm just very...upset, that someone important to me has wound up in such bad shape and I don't know how it happened."

Naruto's informal address of Kurenai's position didn't go unnoticed by the other occupance of the room, but most passed it off as "heat of the moment". It was Asuma Sarutobi who spoke next.

"Lady-Tsunade has been pulled aside to hear the doctors assessment of Hinata's injuries, we'll know what happened when she returns. As for **who** assaulted her? Well, Jiraiya-sama is analyzing a note that had been found with Hinata's body earlier this morning."

"I see. And, who was it that found her like this?"

Shino stepped forward this time, "We did. We had gone to the Hyuga estate to retrieve her for training, but were informed that she never returned home. With that in mind, we assumed she'd passed out from exhaustion; a common occurrence when she's training alone. When we arrived at our training ground we found our team-mate laying, covered in blood and dirt, on the ground. We immediately brought her here, where it was discovered that a note had been stuffed into her mouth."

Each word only angered Naruto further. His body had locked up, his muscles bulged with retrained anger, and his eyes had become a dark, cold cobalt-blue; a sharp contrast to the cool, calculating pair most had become accustomed to. However, before he could voice his anger, Tsunade walked in the room.

"Ah," she said upon noticing her favorite knucklehead, "Naruto, it's good that you managed to come. I'd heard how..._close_ you and Hinata were getting, and wanted you to be aware of what happened."

Naruto growled in his throat, "Well then get on with it; tell me what damage she's sustained."

Tsunade took a moment to clear her throat before answering, "-Ahem- Well, Hinata has suffered a concussion to the head, a broken jaw, and a broken nose; and that's just her head. Her left arm is broken and she has multiple bruises covering her upper-body. Half of her ribs are broken, with the other half being bruised. She has stab wound in both her shoulders and a horizontal laceration across her back."

When Tsunade went to take a breath, Kurenai's hoarse voice croaked out, "T-Tsunade-sama, Hinata, she..she wasn't..." The young Jounin couldn't even form sound of the word, but the blonde Hokage knew what she was trying to say.

"Thankfully, no, Hinata was **not** raped. However, we did find traces of hand-shaped bruising along her breasts. Seems her attacker couldn't hold himself back completely. But I'm happy to say that Hinata **will** make a full recovery, and she **will** be able to return to active duty once she's properly healed."

While Naruto was glad to hear that his greatest tool hadn't been broken beyond repair, the more human side demanded blood for this dishonor. "While that's all well and good, none of that tells me **who** attacked her."

"Actually, the part about the note **does **tell us who did it Naruto...and I don't think you're going to like the answer." The voice came from Jiraiya, who had just re-entered the room. "The note was a little hard to make out at first; it was written in the girls blood, and being stuffed in her mouth for so many hours smudged the attackers words. However, we did manage to piece together what was written on the paper."

Kakashi felt a nauseating feeling begin to build up in his stomach. He, like Naruto, had wondered where Sasuke was. The lazy Jounin had gone by the boys compound to retrieve him, but found the place empty. Kakashi thought nothing of it at first and went to check their usual training spots. Now, after not finding Sasuke, and hearing Jiraiya-sama's ominous reply, The silver-haired cyclops began to fear for what was going to be said next. "W-What does the note say Jiraiya-sama?"

The legendary ninja's eyes squeezed shut, as if he were in pain, before he let out a breath and spoke, "-sigh- It reads..."

"_Hey Naruto,_

_I hope you like the present I left you. Don't worry, after I beat her I didn't stop and have any "fun"; I didn't have time for more than a quick boob session anyway. Normally I wouldn't have bothered with her, but she got in my way, so I had to teach her the error of her ways. But, again, don't worry, I'll be back some day and then you can thank me for teaching the bitch her place._

_-Sasuke"_

The whole room was silent after Jiraiya finished reading the letter. Yet despite the silence, different reactions played out in each occupance mind. For Kakashi, he couldn't believe his student would abandon the village so easily; especially after all the work he'd put in to training the boy. For Sakura, the pink-haired kunoichi's mind was stuck in denial. She believed that Sasuke wouldn't leave the village without proper reasoning or, barring that, of his own free will. Most of the others had suspected the Uchiha to go rogue eventually, but none of them thought he'd do what he did to Hinata; someone who's done the boy no ill will. It was Naruto's reaction that startled everyone,

The sound of wood splintering echoed throughout the room as the bedside-table was thrown into the wall and broken. All eyes turned to look at the blonde who stood, glaring at the floor.

"Tsunade," Naruto's voice called out, "please tell me that you plan on sending a squad after that traitor." The way the roman so casually called his former team-mate a traitor astonished the rest of his team.

"As per protocol, yes, I will be sending a team to retrieve Sasuke Uchiha and return him to Konoha, where he **will** be prosecuted for desertion."

At that, Naruto turned his ice cold, cobalt eyes to the buxom Hokage and requested, "Then I ask that I be, if not the leader, than at least a part of the retrieval team. Sasuke did this," he motioned to the beaten Hinata with his hand, "as an attack on me personally. I'd like to show him how grave a mistake it is, to have me as his enemy."

The female Sannin thought about her fellow blondes proposal. While she **was** going to send out a retrieval team, she hadn't planned on having any genin or even chunin on it. But then she ran through the list of available ninja, and Tsunade realized that most of her Jounin were **already** out on missions.

_'Granted I **could** send this group of Jounin here in the room, but, judging from the looks on most of these genin's faces, this isn't just a mission; it's personal. No, I can't let that be the deciding factor here.'_

"I'm sorry Naruto, but I can't send genin to do such a dangerous job. What I didn't mention to any of you yet, is that our Eastern patrol was killed yesterday; leading me to believe that Sasuke isn't alone. And knowing Orochimaru like I do, there's no way he'd send anyone other than some of his best ninja to bring Sasuke to him. I'm sorry Naruto, but I'll be sending this group of Jounin to handle the retrieval."

When she finished her explanation Tsunade could see that many of the younger ninja were unhappy with her decision. "You can all be as upset as you want, but that won't change my mind. As much as I don't wanna say it, this mission is about more than what happened to Hinata. This retrieval is about a ninja, with critical knowledge about our village and a powerful bloodline, leaving the village to join one of our greatest enemies-" Anything else Tsunade may have said was cut-off when Naruto slammed the side of his fist into the wall.

"NO! This mission is NOT about Sasuke's eyes, and it's not about "village secrets." This mission is about getting back the Hyuga heiress's honor as not only a ninja of the Leaf, but as a woman. Hinata deserves **at least** that much." Naruto's speech lit a fire in the eye of many of the young ninja in the room.

"Naruto's right Lady-Tsunade," Shikamaru spoke first, "this is about Hinata, **not** Sasuke. You can't honestly expect many of us to just sit back and let the grown ups handle this. Hinata is a part of the rookie nine, and we take care of our own!" Almost immediately after, Neji spoke up.

"I have to agree as well. Hinata-sama's well-being is my responsibility, one that I have failed miserably at. This isn't just another retrieval mission Milady, it is a matter of honor!" After this were several similar arguments from the other genin.

Seeing so many young genin willing to throw down their lives to reclaim the honor of one of their own made Tsunade's heart swell with pride. These young ninja each held the 'Will of Fire' in their eyes; a fire the blonde Hokage didn't have the conviction to put out. "...Alright."

Looking around the room Tsunade addressed the group of genin, "I'll allow a team made up of the young ninja in this room to take up this mission." Her eyes landed on Shikamaru, "As the only chunin of your class, you're in charge Mr. Nara; you may select four of the genin in this room to accompany you."

Shikamaru looked every ninja of his generation in the face. He could see each of them, to a degree, wanted to be a part of this mission. But the young chunin could see, in some eyes, that this truly more than just a mission.

"Alright, I've chosen my team. First, for obvious reasons, I'm choosing Naruto and Neji. You two have the most legitimate reasons for going after Sasuke, and it would feel wrong to deny you guys justice. The final two are Kiba and Choji. Kiba because Hinata is his team-mate, and I'm sure they want revenge against Sasuke, and I chose Choji for a practical reason; we need a heavy hitter."

The young shadow-manipulator could see the looks of anger from the genin who hadn't been chosen, , but he could also see understanding in **why** they weren't chosen.

Seeing that the team was assembled and ready to go, Tsunade cleared her throat and addressed her ninja, "-Ahem- Okay, now that that's been settled I want this squad ready to move out ASAP. Sasuke and his new band of friends have a significant lead on us so you'll need to be fast if you want any hope of reaching them before they cross over into the Land of Rice."

A chorus of "Yes, Lady-Tsunade" was her response.

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Naruto stood, his arms extended , in front of his mirror. At this moment he was having a Shadow-Clone fit his armor into place. "...And, done. What you think?"

Naruto looked at himself. He looked at his grieve covered shins, the pteruge that covered his waist. Next he made sure that his blades were strapped on properly. Once satisfied with their grip, Naruto allowed his eyes to fall upon his silver cuirass; its polished and gleaming surface not yet marred by the experience in the field. Lifting his head, the blonde rotated his shoulders to loosen up his leather shoulder guards; listening as his lappets as they moved against each other. After this he made sure his focale wasn't too tight against his throat. Finally, as he stared into his reflections eyes, Naruto donned his officer's helmet.

As the young roman looked at the reflection in the mirror he could feel the power and confidence that oozed from the armor. Naruto felt invincible, like there was no one who could stand against him.

Re-checking his leather bracers to make sure they were situated correctly, Naruto turned and spoke to the girl on his bed, "Well, Ino, how do I look?"

The platinum-blonde had returned with Naruto to his apartment after he had been sent to prepare for his mission; she told her team she had to run the family flower shop. As she watched her master get suited up Ino was amazed at the complete transformation that took place before her eyes. When Naruto turned and addressed her, the young kunoichi was blown away by the sight of him.

"You look...commanding, Master. Truly, you personify all of Rome's greatness; and the helmet holds in all your hair."

"Hmm, yes, I'll have to get that trimmed down when I return. And , while the praise is greatly appreciated I must serve correction. I still hold the look of a fresh recruit; someone no true roman would follow. But, in time, I will prove myself worthy of carrying my ancestors name." With his response finished Naruto began to make his way to the door. "You might as well come along, see your team-mate's off and all that."

Ino stood and smiled gratefully towards her master, "Thank you master, I **did **hope to see them off, but didn't know how to broach the subject with you."

With those words, the two blondes exited the apartment, and made there way towards the Eastern gate.

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As they came upon the gate Naruto and Ino noticed that only Shikamaru was present.

"Shikamaru," Naruto called out, "good to see you were the first to arrive; although I **am** a little surprised. And where's Choji, usually you two are attached at the hip?"

The lazy Nara turned towards his blonde friend and Naruto immediately noticed that he was speaking, not with a Nara, but with a Crassus.

"I informed Choji that I needed to speak with you in private, so he's over there," he pointed to a stand that looked to be selling sweets and, sure enough, there the Akimichi was. "I see you've decided to represent Rome. Will this become a common sight?"

"And if it is, do you object?"

"Of course not, Imperator, I merely asked out of curiosity. In fact, it makes me wish I could join you in donning the official armor, but you know how suspicious that would look."

Naruto clasped his hand on Shikamaru's shoulder, and gave his fellow roman a look of understanding. "Don't worry friend, that day **will** come. And when it does, know that it will also be the day we begin to reclaim our empire."

As the two young ninja talked, Ino stood off to the side and watched; waiting her turn to talk with her team-mate. Ino, being Naruto's save, had been informed of the current network of alliances the blonde had, as well as his plans for the future. As far as the Yamanaka heiress knew, the only one not fully aware of the situation now, was Temari; who Naruto had told Ino about while he was punishing her.

Before too much longer the rest of the retrieval team began to walk up, prompting Naruto and Shikamaru to put their conversation on hold. Kiba arrived first, followed almost immediately by Neji. And when those two arrived Choji pulled himself away from the sweet shop and made his way over as well.

"Alright team," Shikamaru called out, "like Lady-Tsunade said the group from Oto has a several hour head-start, so we'll have to move quick if we wanna close that gap. The formation will be: Neji in the front, followed by Kiba and Choji, and Naruto and I bringing up the rear. Any questions?"

"Yeah," Kiba raised his hand, "I've got one. Naruto, what's with the get-up?"

"Kiba I meant does anybody have any questions about the **mission**, not about irrelevant factors like: what someone's wearing."

"Well, what if that armor has some kind of special ability? Like what if it can absorb jutsu or enhance his strength huh? I mean c'mon, look at him, since when did Naruto have muscles!?"

The gathered ninja **did** look at Naruto, and they did notice the cuirass was molded to look like muscles; maybe there was something to Kiba's argument after all.

"Actually Kiba," Naruto spoke up, "my armor doesn't do either one of those things. And to answer your other question: do you not see my arms?" At this the blonde set his arms in front of his chest and his arms swelled. Kiba quickly rescinded his argument.

"Well, now that we've all been introduced to Naruto's new physique, can we please get on with this mission? I don't know about the rest of you, but I'd actually like to try and reclaim Hinata-sama's honor." Neji's face was creased into a scowl set deep into his face; the Hyuga prodigy didn't like these distractions.

Naruto looked over to the byakugan wielder and shot the boy a cold glare. "Don't assume you are the only one who wants to get this mission over with Neji, or have you forgotten that it was **me** who convinced Tsunade to let us have the mission?"

"I need no reminder of-" anything else that would have been said was cut-off with a shout of "Naruto!"

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Tsunade stood in her office with the older ninja that she'd originally selected for the retrieval mission. They were currently discussing Naruto and his behavior back in the hospital.

"Since when did Naruto and your student become so close Kurenai? The kid went ballistic when he found out about the cause for her condition." Kakashi directed towards the genjutsu mistress.

"It started back during that diplomatic envoy to Wave country. Ever since then those two's relationship has been..._different_. I know Hinata's always had feelings for the boy, but, what I've been observing is something far beyond any normal crush. It's staring to worry me."

Tsunade took I this information and looked over to her fellow Sannin, "Jiraiya, have your spies returned from Wave country yet? This whole mystery would be so much easier to solve if we had their intel."

"-sigh- Unfortunately, I wont be getting any information for about two more days Tsunade-Hime. I received a letter recently that told me they had run into some trouble; something about "not being able to get answers from anyone". So they needed a little more time, but my spy network works so well **because** they take their time; they never leave any stone unturned. I myself only managed to get a bit of information when I followed Naruto, he mentioned the old world."

Kurenai looked to the Sannin in confusion, "The _old world, _Jiraiya-sama? Do you mean the time of the Sage?"

"No, Miss Yuhi, I do not. I forgot that you weren't made aware of the times before chakra. The "old world" as some call it, is the time before the Juubi attacked. Not much is known about this era because it's said that most written record of those times was destroyed during the Ten-Tails attack; very few people have extensive knowledge of those days."

"Okay," Asuma spoke up, "but what does that have to do with what you found Jiraiya-sama?"

The Toad-Sannin looked to his sensei's son, "It matters, because I caught Naruto teaching Konohamaru how to sword-fight, and I heard him mention the word "gladius" as he spoke about his sword."

Gai, who had been silent up until now, chose to speak up, "Kakashi, I take it you did not introduce young Naruto to the practice of Kenjutsu, so can we assume it was something else he picked up in Wave country?"

"Yes," Kurenai responded, "when we were leaving, a man came up to Naruto and presented him with a wrapped bundle of cloth; which I now believe were those blades he now carries around."

"Well as we saw from looking at Sasuke, Naruto has knowledge of how to use a sword. He must have practiced while Sasuke and I were incapacitated."

Kurenai then remembered something she'd heard after arriving in Wave. "I think I know where we can get a few more clues." All heads turned to look in the ruby-eyed Jounin's direction.

"And where would this convenient source of information happen to be?" Kakashi asked, skeptical of the new development.

"Hinata. When we arrived at The Great Naruto Bridge my squad and I noticed a pair of statues with a strange language written across their pedestals. None of us could figure out what it said except Hinata; she said it was Latin. And when Naruto asked her how she knew, Hinata replied that she'd been taught the full history of our nation; back before even the Sage Of Six Paths."

While many in the group began to feel a sense of relief that the mystery surrounding Naruto would be solved, two members felt something else. Kakashi was the first to voice his feelings.

"As nice as that is to know, you all seem to be forgetting one thing; Hinata's feeling for Naruto. What makes you all think that she's going to give us information on him if she thinks we're a threat to the kids well-being?" This brought down the hopes of many of the conspirators.

"Well maybe I can get her to reveal a few things. My relationship with Hinata is still pretty strong, I think I can persuade her to tell me. And if not, there's always genjutsu." Kurenai offered.

While most of the ninja in the room were on board with this strategy, the sole blonde of the group began to feel apprehensive. When Jiraiya mentioned the gladius and the old world, Tsunade didn't let herself make the connection. But when Kurenai mentioned the Latin language, the pig-tailed Hokage began to feel sweat form on her brow. If Naruto found what she feared he'd found, the world would soon be thrown into a frenzy.

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The group looked over and noticed Sakura Haruno rushing towards them from the mob of civilians that were out and about. The pink-haired kunoichi stopped in front of her blonde team-mate.

Naruto looked at Sakura with a stoic face. The young girl's eyes were red and there were stains left behind by tears; clear indications that Sakura had been crying.

"What do you want Sakura?"

Her response came in a hoarse tone, "Naruto -hiccup- I-I wanna ask you a favor."

The blondes cobalt-blue eyes narrowed in suspicion, he had an idea of what Sakura was going to ask, but he hoped the girl wasn't really **that** stupid. "And what would this favor happen to be?"

"Naruto," at this the young kunoichi started to cry again, "N-Naruto please -sob- please bring Sasuke-kun back. I-I know everyone -hiccup- everyone thinks he abandon the village but, -sob- but that can't be true. Sasuke-kun would **never** leave on his own, those Oto ninja must have kidnapped him o-or he's being controlled by the curse-mark. S-So please, Naruto-kun, **please**; bring Sasuke-kun back to me."

At the end of her plea Sakura took hold of Naruto's hands and stared into his eyes, as if trying to will him to accept. While she did this the other young ninja looked on at her in disgust. None of them could believe that Sakura was **actually **defending Sasuke and his actions; almost outright denying the Uchiha's involvement in Hinata's attack, even though Sasuke **himself **left a note saying he did it!

Neji was about to confront the pink-haired girl and give her a piece of his mid, but Naruto beat him to it.

Naruto pulled his hands away and brought one up to cup Sakura's cheek. The young kunoichi leaned her face against the warm, rough hand that cradled her face and smiled in gratitude at the blonde youth in front of her. When Naruto's and slowly slid down to her slender neck, Sakura could feel her cheeks heat up at such a forward and intimate move. _'I-Is he..going to kiss me?'_

That thought was shattered when Naruto tightened his grip and began to lift Sakura off her feet. Her emerald-green eyes widen in fear as she looked down into her team-mate's cold, cobalt-blue's.

"N-Naruto-kun, w-what are you doing!?" She choked out in terror.

"Sakura, since we're team-mate's I won't break your face but, if you **ever** try to defend Sasuke for beating Hinata in my presence again, then you won't like my response. Sasuke left the village because I defeated him, because his pride was hurt; NOT because he was kidnapped or being controlled. Hinata has never done any wrong to another member of this village, least of all your precious _Sasuke-kun_!"

Sakura began to cry again. Partially from the pain of her throat being squeezed, the other being because Naruto was tearing down her ideal of Sasuke right to her face. "B-But Naruto-kun -hrgh-" she didn't get to continue because Naruto's grip tightened further.

"And don't EVER refer to me as "Naruto-kun"! You are not **fit** to refer to me I such an affectionate way you sniveling worm! You want me to bring Sasuke back to you, well you're gonna get him; but he wont be very talkative because I'm going to _rip out his tongue and feed it to him!"_ Naruto's rant ended in an icy hiss as he brought Sakura back to eye level. Tossing the distraught kunoichi away from him, Naruto turned and addressed his squad-mates.

"We've wasted enough time here! Like we've already been told twice, Sasuke and his group have significant head-start on us; one made larger by these distractions! But no more, as of this moment it's all about the mission. When we catch those guys, because we **will** catch them, I don't wanna see any mercy shown to any of them! Now, lets move out!" As he shouted this Naruto rested his right hand on the pommel of his sword and started to run out of the gate.

The rest of the squad looked at where Naruto had just been, before they too ran off to chase down Sasuke. None of them even sparing a second glance at the distraught Sakura.

With the team having left, Sakura and Ino were the only ones left standing at the Eastern gate. Sakura, needing some comfort after her "ordeal" turned to Ino.

"I-Ino, you don't think-" the pink-haired girl was again cut-off, only this time by a slap in the face. As she lay on the ground Sakura held her stinging cheek and looked towards her fellow kunoichi.

"Ino, w-why did you hit me?" She shrunk back when the platinum-blonde took a menacing step forward.

"Why? I slapped you because you're being stupid Sakura! Sasuke abandon the village, and **attacked** Hinata! And while he may not have raped her, how do you think she's gonna feel when she finds out he decided to use her breasts like stress balls! Sakura we may have been best-friends once, and I know we said we'd work on repairing that relationship, but if this is how you're going to act then I don't think I want anything to do with you." She began to walk away, but turned around and made one final remark.

"And Sakura, if I EVER hear you refer to the Master as "Naruto-kun" again, you and I are going to have a problem...understand!?" And with that, the young heiress began her trek back home.

Sakura lay in the street with only one thought going through her mind, _'Master?'_

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As this was going on, Kurenai was visiting Hinata in the hospital. The young heiress had been heavily sedated when she was first brought in that morning, but she had since woken up and been allowed to be seen.

"Hinata," Kurenai began as she sat on the girls bed, "how are you feeling?"

The blue-haired Hyuga looked over to her sensei, her eyes holding a firm, suspicious look as she responded, "I'm doing alright Kurenai-sensei. A-Although, I'm disappointed in myself for allowing Sasuke-san to escape." The young girls defeated tone broke Kurenai's heart, making her almost not want to question her student. Almost.

"Hinata I feel that I should be the one to tell you this: Naruto, Neji, and three other members of your graduating class have been tasked with retrieving Sasuke. But I don't want you to feel as if you failed," Kurenai wrapped her arm around Hinata's shoulder and held the girl close, "you did your duty as a ninja of the Leaf, and no one can say you didn't try your best. I figure Sasuke wouldn't have done what he did if he didn't consider you a threat."

Kurenai's attempt at a pep-talk did manage to make Hinata feel a little better about her skills, but it didn't alleviate the suspicion the young girl held about her sensei."Kurenai-sensei, I-I feel like there's something m-more you wanna talk with me about...what is it?"

_'-sigh- Leave it up to Hinata to be able to read me like a book.'_ The female Jounin thought. Deciding that lying would only hurt her chances of coaxing out information, Kurenai answered, "Hinata, I...was hoping you'd share some of your knowledge of the old world with me. You see, there's this..._puzzle_ that I'm trying to solve and neither I nor any of my fellow Jounin, or even the Sannin for that matter, have been able to figure it out. Can you help me?"

"W-What kind of information do you need?"

"Well, let me tell you one of the clues we found; gladius. We aren't really sure what it is, or what it could mean, so I was hoping that you would have **some** knowledge about what a "gladius" is.

Hinata **did** know what a gladius was. Her Naruto-kun had explained that it was the type of sword his ancestors used to do battle, among other war machines. Hinata realized that Kurenai, and apparently many high ranking ninja, were watching her blonde love, _'I-I can't tell them about Rome, they m-might try to stop Naruto-kun's plan.'_

"I-I'm sorry Kurenai-sensei, I-I can't remember learning about that. M-Maybe I could ask my t-tutor when I return to the compound."

Kurenai watched the different emotions flash across her students face, before it settled into a quick look of understanding, and then a false confusion. _'Hm, so she caught on already. I shouldn't be surprised, Hinata always was smarter than the average kunoichi.'_

"Hinata, I can see that you've caught on, but you have to understand; we're only doing this because we don't know what we are dealing with. This is a ninja village Hinata, it's dangerous to keep certain things a secret."

"Certain things? Kurenai-sensei Naruto-kun doesn't keep any other secrets from the village, why can't he just have this **one**?"

"Listen, Hinata, I don't want to have to make you tell me; but I will if I have to." As she said this, Kurenai tightened her hold on Hinata and started to form hand-signs with her free hand.

"Ninja art: {Mugen no Torishirabe} level E." Once she finished this, Hinata's eyes glazed over and her mind was trapped in her sensei's technique.

**GENJUTSU-**

_(While the torture and interrogation will be comprised of **real** torture later in the story, I chose this because 1) Hinata is still Kurenai's student, and beaten from last chapter, so she's using something that wont scar her mentally. 2) So many people like Hinata as a character {myself included} so I know none of us wish to see her put through pain._

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_Hinata found herself tied spread-eagle to a wooden table, her eyes covered by a blindfold. While normally this wouldn't stop Hinata's byakugan, the young girl knew that inside Kurenai's genjutsu, she made the rules. The young heiress didn't believe Kurenai would do anything to hurt her, but she was still nervous as to what her sensei would do to her._

"_Well Hinata, here we are. I don't wanna have to do this, but you've forced my hand. I've set the level of the genjutsu at Level E, so you won't get hurt. But knowing how sensitive you are, this may just be worse than any pain for you."_

_Hearing Kurenai's vague explanation of her torture made a knot form in the pit of the Hyuga heiress stomach. If Kurenai planned to do,what Hinata thought she was going to do, 'Then it really **will** be worse than pain.' She thought._

_What confused Hinata was that all of her spots were covered, so there wasn't any way for Kurenai to really get to them...until Kurenai re-affirmed her control over their current reality. In the blink of an eye Hinata found herself clothed in just her lavender bra and panties._

"_I hope you're ready for this Hinata, because this is only stage 1 of your torture. Although I don't think you'll be able to stand anymore than this."_

_Because of her blindfold Hinata couldn't see the numerous ghostly hands appear out of thin-air. The hands floated over and hovered above various places on her body. "We'll start with something you'll actually enjoy." Kurenai snapped her fingers and two hands moved to begin massaging her breasts; the thumbs rubbing the shy heiress's nipples in little circles._

_Hinata, for her part, wasn't expecting this. The hands were gentle, and warm, the young kunoichi could actually feel the heat pass through her bra and envelope her pale globes. It wasn't a surprise when Hinata felt her nipples begin to harden under the ghost hands pleasurable ministrations; she'd never been touched in such a way by anyone but herself. Then the hands changed tactics._

_The two hands that had been massaging her chest began to pinch and lightly twist Hinata's nipples. This sudden change in sensation made the shy kunoichi lose focus and let out a sharp gasp; even Hinata hadn't done **this** to herself. Before long the hands added tugging to their routine, so now they alternated between massaging, pinching, twisting, and now tugging._

_Hinata could feel her entire body begin to heat up. Even when she tried reminding herself that this was all just a genjutsu, the pleasure caused by the ghostly hands would override any coherent thinking. Soon the Hyuga heiress was laying, panting and sweating, in a heap of sensual pleasure._

_Kurenai took notice of her students current state, and could see that this wasn't enough to get the girl to speak against her blonde love. 'Well then, I guess I'll just have to change things up.' With that the genjutsu mistress snapped her fingers again, and the hands stopped._

_Hinata was left frustrated when the hands quite pleasuring her heaving bosom. She wanted to yell that she wanted it to continue, but then remembered what the cost would be, 'And besides -huff- if I hold out -huff- Naruto-kun will reward me with something far better than this.' But these thoughts didn't prepare the young kunoichi for what Kurenai would order the hands to do next._

"_Now that I've got your nerves charged and ready, it's time for stage 2." With another snap of her fingers, the ghostly hands descended again onto Hinata's ivory skin; only this time, it wasn't to pleasure her._

_Hinata's eyes nearly popped out of her head when she felt the wispy, ghost-like fingers trace along the outer-edge of both armpits, and the rim of her little naval. Each spot was only tormented by a single finger at the moment, but Hinata knew that would change soon. For now, she'd gather strength to withstand the inevitable._

_The young heiress didn't have to wait long because,minutes after the fingers began, the rest of them came into play under her arms, while the single wispy digit at her naval began to poke, prod, and twist around inside the small dimple._

_Hinata squeezed her eyes shut as the fingers scraped gently against her smooth skin. Kurenai had been right, the sexual teasing had in deed set her nerves on edge; making it all the harder to fight back the laughter that wanted to pour through. Just when she thought she may surely explode, the hands once again halted their movement._

_Kurenai looked at her frazzled student with surprise. The genjutsu mistress could remember back when she'd gotten Hinata to out-right confess to having romantic feelings for Naruto through the use of tickling, and yet here she was, holding in her laughter. 'This isn't good. I need to find a way to get her to break, because at this rate she'll never crack.' As she thought this, Kurenai's red eyes traversed across Hinata's entire body, until they stopped. 'That's it!' With the snap of her fingers, Kurenai re-assigned the hands, and set them to work._

_Hinata waited apprehensively for Kurenai to continue her attempts to extract information from her. The young kunoichi used this valuable time to draw in as much breath as possible, getting ready for whatever came next. But it didn't help prepare for what came next, and Hinata knew that this would be what broke her._

_The hands had been repositioned at the young heiress feet, and were quick to apply their feather-like touch to the soft skin. Up and down they went, along the entire sole of the girls small feet. Hinata could feel tears leaking from her eyes as loud, melodious laughter poured out from her mouth as a single finger from each hand concentrated on her arches. And when she tried to ball up her feet, the ticklish kunoichi found herself unable to do so; it seemed Kurenai had anticipated this, and forced the young girls feet to remain still._

_Hinata knew she was finished when two more hands came into play, and began to focus on her toes. 'T-This i-is so unfair! I-It's so humiliating, oh, Naruto-kun please forgive me; I can't take much more.' _

_As she thought this, the hands at her toes pulled them so that the gaps in-between were made fully available, and then they began to saw themselves along the trembling skin they found there. This was too much for the ticklish girl to handle. She was soon begging for it to stop, as even more hands arrived and began to tickle the pads of her toes, held still by Kurenai's genjutsu. "Okay, Okay I'll tell you! J-Just stop p-please!"_

_Kurenai held her hands in the release symbol, and brought the two of them out of the genjutsu._

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-END GENJUTSU

When she came back to her senses Hinata jerked herself away from her sensei's hold, only to cringe and groan in pain as she moved her damaged ribs.

Kurenai simply looked on at her student with regret; regret that she had to use her favorite students greatest physical weakness against her, after promising never to do so. "Hinata, I know you're upset with me, but please try to understand. The others and I just want to make sure that Naruto isn't becoming dangerous. And while I hope you'll forgive me for what I had to do, I stand by my decision. Now, you said you'd tell me what I want to know, so I expect to hear some answers soon; or else I'll be forced to put you through that again, and this time, it'll be for a **lot **longer**."**

Hinata merely looked down, defeated, at her trembling fists. Her eyes welled up with tears as she got ready to reveal what she knew about Rome to Kurenai. Her only thought was, _'Naruto-kun, please, forgive my weakness.'_

What neither kunoichi noticed while they were in the genjutsu, was that a certain platinum-blonde had been about to visit her fellow "sister", and watched as the mentally trapped Hinata's physical body expressed her torture. _'So, Miss favorite's got a weakness after all hm? This will be fun.'_

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While Hinata was being forced to betray her love, he, along with the rest of the retrieval team, were catching up with group from Oto.

Naruto could feel his rage building the closer Neji said they were to the enemy. And soon, the group of rookies could clearly see the Sound Four in front of them; and one of them was carrying a barrel on his back.

When they managed to get a little closer Naruto asked those in front of him to clear a path for him. Once this was done, the blonde bit into his thumb, swiped it across his left bracer,_'Glad I studied up on seals before that trip to Wave, otherwise this would've been difficult,'* _and summoned a pilum(Roman military spear). Aiming, the young roman stopped quickly on the next branch, and hurled the spear at the barrel. The weapon hit its mark, and when the blonde started chasing again he could notice that the guy carrying the barrel was having a tougher time due to the added weight of the pilum. Eventually the group was forced to stop, and the Sound Four turned to face the Retrieval team.

Naruto took in each member with a calculating stare. He looked from the large one with the orange mohawk, the one who carried the barrel on his back, _'More than likely with that traitorous fuck curled up inside.' _To the silver-haired, sickly-looking youth next to him, who also looked to be carrying something on is back. Next he looked to the pineapple-haired teen with six arms and a cocky smirk on his face. And finally, Naruto's cobalt-blue gaze fell upon the lone female of the group. It was here the boys eyes stayed for a while.

The young roman took in every detail of the girl before him. She was slender, but held an athletic build, and she had a very beautiful face; even if it _was_ currently etched into an annoyed scowl. Naruto took in the curtain of smooth, red hair that waterfall-ed out from underneath her skullcap. Even with the unflattering attire she wore, Naruto could tell that this kunoichi was truly a sight to behold when given the chance to clean up.

Realizing that he had to push such thoughts aside for now, Naruto addressed his enemies.

"I know you have Sasuke Uchiha stuffed inside that barrel, and I'm going to ask you nicely **once** to hand him over so that he can pay for his crimes. If you refuse, my team and I will be forced to defeat each of you, and carry the traitorous fuck back to the village anyway. It's up to you, but I'd rather not have to hurt some of you," at this the youths cool gaze centered on the red-head, "if I don't have to."

Tayuya had noticed the way Naruto's gaze seemed to focus on **her **near the end of his ultimatum, and wasn't really sure what to make of it. When she and her team stopped, Tayuya **had** been expecting to see the blonde youth, but in the tunic he'd worn on the roof of the hospital, not donning a strange set of armor. _'Although, the armor __**is**__ pretty fucking hot, and it makes Blondie look like such a bad-ass.'_

The red-headed kunoichi of the Sound Four wasn't like the rest of her team. Tayuya didn't consider Orochimaru her master, nor did she believe the things he'd said about achieving greatness through serving him. As far as the Tayuya was concerned, following Orochimaru was just a means to an end; getting the chance to improve her skills, and scope-out potential new allies that could help her escape from Oto.

Tayuya wasn't stupid. She figured out a long time ago that it was Orochimaru who had burnt down her small fishing village; in hopes of "taking in" orphaned children, who he would later experiment on. She was lucky compared to most of the other children. She had only been given the curse-mark. And while the initial pain was agonizing, Tayuya would gladly go through it again if it meant staying out of the crazy Sannin's lab.

Shaking herself from her reminiscing, Tayuya just barely caught the look Sakon threw her way; signaling the beginning of their escape plan. So, the foul-mouthed kunoichi drew her prized flute up to her lips, and began to play, ensnaring the Sound Four's enemies inside a genjutsu. Or so she thought.

When he was caught in the genjutsu, Naruto felt a series of pulses vibrate throughout his body, and then the haze of illusion began to fade. It didn't take long for Naruto to realize that the Nine-Tails had canceled out the genjutsu's effects. Looking around Naruto noticed that the rest of his team wasn't as lucky as him, and were still trapped in the illusion. Deciding he'd give them time to break out of it, Naruto turned and looked to the Sound Four.

The team from Oto looked on in shock, as the strangely dressed blonde seemed to just be immune to Tayuya's genjutsu. Swiftly coming back to their senses, the foursome focused on the young ninja in front of them who was unsheathing his sword.

As he entered his ready stance Naruto looked at each member of the rival squad; trying to determine which would make the best target. He considered the fat one who was carrying Sasuke, but decided that move would be expected. Next he looked to the silver-haired youth with the hunch. The guy didn't look like much, which probably meant he was the smartest of the group, so he was probably analyzing Naruto in the same way the blonde was doing to the Sound Four. Deciding to go for the brains of the group, Naruto leaped from his branch, and brought his gladius down on Sakon's head.

Sakon **had **in fact been studying Naruto; trying to discern what, if any, special properties the blondes armor may have. He'd also been trying to determine which member of the Sound Four Naruto would attack first. It didn't come as a shock when the blonde chose Sakon as his target.

When Naruto came down on him, Sakon brought up a kunai to block the sword slash, and the did his best to shove Naruto to the side. As Naruto landed the rest of Sakon's team spread out, getting into position should they need to jump in. Deciding not to give the blonde any time to ready himself, Sakon rushed forward to try and end the battle quickly.

Naruto twisted away from the stab that Sakon attempted, and continued his spin to bring his elbow around to meet the silver-haired youths cheek. When he tried to bring is sword down on is opponents shoulder, Sakon caught Naruto's wrist, and attempted to swipe his kunai across the blondes throat. Naruto leaned back to avoid the slash, and when he jerked his hand back, Sakon stumbled forward; caught off-guard by Naruto's impressive strength. This proved even more true when Naruto uppercut the silver-haired youth in the chin; sending him sprawling onto his back.

Sakon spat out his broken tooth and wiped the blood from his mouth. The silver-haired youth realized that he'd grossly underestimated his opponent. _'But no more. Now it's __**him**__ that's in for a surprise.' _In a shocking display of speed Sakon charged at Naruto.

Naruto barely managed to side-step a right-hook, but was unprepared for the fist that **came out** of the outstretched arm, and sucker-punched him in the face. The blonde managed to hastily parry a kunai swipe at his face, but when he attempted to retaliate with a stab to Sakon's stomach, he was again surprised when, this time, two hands came out of the boys **stomach** and caught his sword. Naruto looked over to his opponent, his eyes narrowed in frustration.

"Aw what's the matter? Upset because I've stopped playing around?" The leader of the Sound Four mocked.

"What is this? How are you managing to extend extra limbs from your body?"

Sakon cocked his head to the side and let a condescending smirk etch its way onto his lips, "It's a bloodline my brother and I posses. I'm sure you've noticed the hunch on my back, well, that's my brother Ukon. We're able to merge and separate our bodies at will and become the strongest fighter in Oto; in other words, you're finished!" At the end of his explanation the hands, now confirmed to be Ukon, pulled Naruto in, and allowed Sakon to headbutt the blonde in the nose.

Naruto staggered back, clutching his bleeding nose, and unaware of the spartan-kick that was aimed at his chest. While the cuirass managed to absorb the majority of the impact, Naruto was still sent off the branch, and forced to re-assert himself on a new one. Before he could re-engage Sakon and Ukon Naruto noticed a dark streak racing towards the Sound Four leader. _'Shikamaru, it's about time.'_

Unfortunately Naruto wasn't the only one to see the approaching shadow; Tayuya also caught sight of it. The red-headed kunoichi quickly warned her team-mate, and Sakon was given enough time to avoid the attack.

Shikamaru appeared at Naruto's side, followed shortly by the last three members of their team. "Took you all long enough." The blonde spat, not even bothering to look at Kiba, Neji, or Choji.

"Hey dope, don't push me alright!? I don't know how you managed to break out of that genjutsu so fast, but don't think that give you the right to insult us!" Kiba looked ready to get in Naruto's face, before Shikamaru's voice halted him.

"Kiba, cut it out. We need to be focusing on the task at hand, not arguing amongst ourselves because we don't like the way we're being talked to."

At the same time, Sakon and the rest of the Sound Four were discussing what to do about escaping.

"Have you managed to get that fucking spear out of the barrel yet Jirobo? We can't move fast until you take the damn thing out; and I wanna hurry up and finish this stupid mission, I didn't even wanna come." Tayuya seethed to the orange-haired boy who was pulling at Naruto's pugio.

As he twisted and pulled at the pole of the spear, the now identified Jirobo replied, "I'm trying Tayuya, but this things lodged I here good. I've never seen a spear like this before; who the heck **is** that kid?"

This time it was the youth with six arms that responded, "Who cares who that little punk is, just get that god-damned spear out and make sure it didn't hit the prick inside. Heavens only knows what Orochimaru-sama will do to us if we let his "prized" Uchiha get damaged."

Sakon turned, while Ukon kept an eye on the Leaf ninja, and addressed his team, "Calm yourself Tayuya, Jirobo's doing the best he can. And Kidomaru, don't disregard that "little punk" so quickly; he's more skilled than he let on. I have little doubt that he'd have managed to prove troublesome had we continued out battle."

Kidomaru looked over to his leader with eyes full of disbelief. _'If Sakon's serious, then this kid must really be something else, because I can't remember the last time Sakon gave an opponent respect.'_

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As the two teams interacted, Tsunade was once again in her office. Only this time she was trying to prevent a headache.

"Please Gaara-san," Tsunade groaned out, "you have to understand why I'm not authorizing you to back-up the Retrieval team. You are a highly influential member of Suna, and the favored to become the next Kazekage. How would it look if I, Hokage to the village Suna attacked, sent out such an important figure and allowed him to get hurt or killed?"

Gaara's green eyes hardened with anger, "And I've told **you** Lady-Tsunade, that I do not care about the political backlash this might cause. The only thing I'm concerned with, is making sure my friend and 'brother' is returned home safely."

Gaara had caught word that Naruto had been dispatched with a squad of fellow classmates to retrieve Sasuke Uchiha, who had gone rogue. Naturally, the Ichibi's Jinchuuriki decided he would go along as reinforcements. But when the red-head arrived to learn the direction in which the team fled, Tsunade had told him "no", and refused to budge on the matter for the past hour. Gaara was beginning to lose his patience.

"-sigh- I can understand where you're coming from Gaara-san, but unfortunately politics are an important part of the world we live in, you can't just ignore them. Besides, Naruto's a powerful ninja and a capable human being, something I'm sure you of all people can attest to, so I'm not all too worried about his ability to succeed on this mission."

Tsunade really didn't feel like dealing with this at the moment. She had been researching her family history, and had been close to what she was looking for, before Gaara came in and interrupted her. The blonde Hokage had gotten a sinking feeling in her gut when she'd learned about Naruto's new weapons and the resurfacing of the Latin language. While she loved Naruto like a son, Tsunade hoped the boy wouldn't get himself to in over his head, with what she believes he has planned.

Before Gaara could continue his argument, Shizune came in and addressed Tsunade, "Lady-Tsunade, I'm sorry this is so late but, Naruto and his team exited through the Eastern gate approximately an hour and-a-half ago. They are now in pursuit of the team from Oto and the rouge Sasuke Uchiha."

Tsunade barely had time to open her mouth before Gaara disappeared in a whirlwind of sand.

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Naruto stood in a field staring at a pale figure standing in the center of the grass. The rest of the Retrieval team had each been left to battle one-on-one against members of the Sound Four. (The only thing about those battles that will be different is Tayuya lives, so I'm not going to wright them.)

After Kiba stopped to battle Sakon and Ukon, it was just Naruto and Shikamaru left to chase the, now solo, Tayuya. Thankfully, when it came to physical strength, the red-headed kunoichi seemed to be at the bottom of the food-chain; because the barrel had slowed her down significantly. It wasn't long before the two Konoha ninja managed to run right along side her, and force the girl to stop.

But as the three ninja stared each other down, a pale young boy with snow-white hair appeared on a branch above them; an ally to Tayuya. The new-comer took possession of the barrel that contained Sasuke and sped off, leaving his fellow Sound shinobi to distract their enemies.

Shikamaru told Naruto to go on ahead, stating that, out of the two of them, Naruto was their best chance at beating Sasuke. So, with a quick roman salute*, the Nara heir sent his Imperator on his way. And now here the blonde stood.

Kimimaro stared across the field at his strangely dressed opponent. The young Kaguya boy had never seen armor like the set his enemy had on. _'It matters not. Orochimaru-sama wishes to have Sasuke Uchiha brought to him as soon as possible; the others have failed in that regard, so I must be the one to do it. I will finish this boy off quickly, and return to my Master.'_ With his resolve set, Kimimaro pulled bone-swords out from his wrists, and set himself into his stance.

Naruto, seeing the boy create weapons out of his own bones, became weary of this strangers ability. Deciding to proceed with caution, Naruto unsheathed his gladius, and entered into **his** ready stance.

Kimimaro knew he only had a limited amount of time before his illness acted up again, so the young servant of Orochimaru chose to attack first. Rushing forward at an impressive display of speed, Kimimaro brought down his first bone-sword in an attempt to split open Naruto's skull. When this was parried, the Kaguya boy spun on the ball of his right foot, and went for a slash at his blue-eyed opponents armored side.

Naruto found the white-haired youths speed to be mind-boggling. The Jinchuuriki barely managed to parry the first blow; but as he did, Naruto noticed that the bones were considerably dense, probably having enough strength to pierce his armor! With that thought in mind Naruto made sure to jump back to avoid the horizontal-slash that was aimed for his side.

After avoiding the second attack Naruto decided to go on the offensive. He started with a stab at Kimimaro's chest, but when this was parried Naruto simply let his momentum carry his arm, and switch into a vertical-slash that successfully cut a line up his opponents torso. The blonde didn't get much time to celebrate, because immediately after, Kimimaro delivered a spartan-kick to Naruto's chest before jumping back to asses the damage.

Kimimaro inspected the vertical laceration he now sported along his chest. Thanks to the Kaguya boys quick reflexes he managed to avoid too serious of an injury, but he still managed to sustain a shallow wound. _'This boy is rather skilled, it explains why Tayuya said Sakon had some trouble with him. I have no doubt that, if it weren't for Ukon's assistants, Sakon would have had to activate his curse-mark to have any real hope of defeating him. But I am not Sakon, I am Orochimaru's most powerful knight; I will not be defeated by this boy.'_ Deciding to try a different approach, Kimimaro retracted his bone-swords, placed his palms flat on the ground, and called out: "{Hone no Parusu}!"

When Naruto saw is opponent put his weapons away, the blonde tensed his body in preparation. This paid off when Naruto's superior hearing caught sound of a heavy rumbling under the earth...and heading straight for him.

Naruto jumped to the side the moment the rumbling would be noticeable to regular hearing, but as the young warrior rolled across the ground he heard the rumbling change course; and head straight for him again! Realizing that his opponent must be able to control the movement of the jutsu, Naruto raced towards his opponent; intent on distracting the boys focus away from his technique.

Again the Kaguya had to give silent praise to his opponent. Most people, even high-ranking ninja, were unable to hear his {Hone no Parusu} until it was too late. So when Kimimaro noticed Naruto running towards him, he canceled his attack, brought his palms up to face Naruto, and activated another of his techniques: "{Aibori Missiles}!"

Once he'd gotten about half-way to Kimimaro's position, Naruto heard the rumbling behind him stop; but he didn't quite running. The Uzumaki focused his cobalt-blue eyes on the target in front of him, and watched as the boy brought his hands up to face Naruto. When Naruto's ears picked up the call of another technique, he hadn't been expecting hundreds of small, sharp, bone spikes to come hurtling towards him at such a rapid pace. Bringing out his side-arm, Naruto faced the rain of tiny missiles head on. The young roman slashed and knocked aside as many of the little darts as he could, but some managed to get by and leave shallow, stinging cuts along his arms; the grieves on his legs protecting the skin there. Some even came into contact with his armor, but thankfully his cuirass was made of high-quality metal, and was able to be left unpierced. However there **were **small dents in some places that had been hit particularly hard.

When he got within range, Naruto dove and rolled towards Kimimaro's unprotected legs, and performed a sweep-slash. What he hadn't expected was for a tusk of **bone** to protrude out from his opponents leg and stop the blondes gladius cold. _'So they can be used for both attack __**and**__ defense, while being able to come from all four limbs, and even be used as projectiles. Fuck the gods, this guy's a walking one-man army!'_

Caught up in his observation, Naruto didn't notice Kimimaro ready his leg for a kick. The next thing he knew, Naruto was rolling along the ground before stopping in a heap. The blonde mentally admonished himself as he wiped his lightly bleeding mouth and glared at his opponent. _'Damn, I was careless. I should have known better than to let my guard down around this guy. That was an amateur mistake; one I can't afford to make again.' _As Naruto got up and prepared himself for another round, he was surprised to see a whirlwind of sand appear between him and Kimimaro. Around this same time, the barrel that contained the runaway Sasuke began to glow and splinter.

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Gaara arrived to the scene of his best friend garbed in an interesting set of armor, standing in a sword-stance he'd never seen, facing off against a pale, white-haired young teenager. Behind this young ninja, a wooden barrel with multiple seals slapped across it was glowing an ominous purple and beginning to splinter. _'That must be where Sasuke is. But I wonder, why did they put him inside there?'_

The future Kazekage was right, Sasuke **was** inside the barrel. In seconds the entire thing exploded, sending shards of wood and scraps of sealing paper scattered across the field. When the dust settled, Sasuke Uchiha stood with his entire body covered in black flames; a malevolent purple chakra outlining his body. Sasuke stared at his tattooed hands, a feral smirk stretched across his face.

"Sasuke!"

The avenger turned his smoldering onyx-black eyes towards the one who called his name. What his sights landed upon, was a young boy wearing a strange outfit. He wore leather boots, silver, metal grieves on his legs, a skirt made of leather strips, a chest-plate that was designed to look like muscles, what appeared to be leather shoulder-guards; with even more leather strips coming out from underneath, and a helmet with a loud vertical line of red horse hair. But what jogged the Uchiha's memory was the pair of cold, commanding, cobalt-blue eyes that glared in his direction.

It was Naruto.

Sasuke started to chuckle, and then that turned into a maniacal laugh, "So I guess you got my note, huh, Naruto? I hope you don't mind the state I left your whore in, she tried to get in my way, so I didn't really have a choice; I had to teach her a lesson. Maybe if you'd do it yourself, the little bitch wouldn't try to stand up to her betters."

Every word out of Sasuke's mouth only fueled Naruto's anger. How dare this peasant trash talk to him this way, and speak so disrespectfully about his most trusted subordinate! He was going to pay!

"I can see it in your eyes," Sasuke spoke again, "you wanna kill me don't you? Ha, well, I'd love to see you try. But not here." At this Sasuke turned, holding his and up and waving it in a "follow me" motion, "I'll take us to a spot where we can have all the fun we want, and no one will get in the way. Try to keep up." With that, Sasuke leaped into the trees, laughing as he headed towards his destination.

Naruto knew he had to chase after Sasuke, but remembered his **current** opponent, _'There's no way that guys just going to let me leave. He'll probably try and weaken me before letting me chase Sasuke, or worse, follow us and team-up with that bastard to defeat me. Either way I-' _"Naruto!"

The blonde looked to where he heard his name and finally noticed Gaara standing off to his side. "Naruto, you go after Sasuke. I'll handle this guy here. I heard about what happened to your friend; you are the only one who should be aloud to defeat that traitor. Go, I'll be okay here."

Looking at his fellow Jinchuuriki, Naruto felt his heart swell with gratitude towards his 'brother', before nodding silently, and chasing after his traitorous team-mate.

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_A/N: And there it is. I couldn't think of any really interesting way to end this particular chapter, so I'm personally a little disappointed in the ending. _

_As I said in the beginning, KingKakashi's "Aftermath" is one of my favorite stories on this entire site. This is because, to me, it embodies so many different facets of Fanfiction that most other stories can't seem to grasp. There's a chapter that is solely about the rape and torment of Sakura(please don't cause trouble for this author over that, if the idea bothers you, then don't read that part.) but in the very next chapter the tone is light and enjoyable. So I want to try and do the same thing(although most of my story will be serious)._

_Naruto and Sasuke battle next chapter, followed by Naruto's banishment and the start of his** true** journey. I tried to show that Naruto isn't all powerful this chapter, while still showing that he was an exceptional fighter. As I wrote, he's going to be underestimated at first, and that's what will win him most of his first battles in the beginning, but after the time-skip it will be pure skill._

_I'm not really sure what else to comment on(I feel this will be a common trend with these long chapters) so if there's anything you guys wish to discuss with me, my email is checked regularly, and I enjoy hearing from you guys. Thank you for your continued support :)_


	9. Alea Iacta Est

A/N: Hey =) Again, I don't really like putting these at the beginning too, but, I put up a poll that I was hoping you guys would take part in. It will be up until I post the next chapter, and I hope you guys vote.

**Ch. 9- Alea Iacta Est...**

**(The Die Is Cast...)**

Hinata sat in her hospital room, surrounded by many high-ranking ninja. She recognized, of course, the Hokage, as well as her own sensei. Also in the room were her Naruto-kun's teacher, Kakashi, and Ino's sensei Asuma. There were also a strange man with long, spiky, white hair dressed in funny clothes. Kurenai had gone and round-up all those who shared her concern about the villages resident blonde.

"Now Hinata," Tsunade was the first one to speak, "I understand you're upset with us, but like Kurenai said, we just want to make sure Naruto's not becoming a danger to the village." Tsunade tried to be as motherly as possible. Even if she was the Hokage, that didn't mean the pig-tailed blonde didn't care about her subordinates feelings.

Hinata refused to look at anyone; she just kept her head turned towards the window as she responded, "And just _what_ has Naruto-kun done to be considered a threat Hokage-sama? From what I've learned, all he's done is become a better dresser and take-up learning kenjutsu. Surely those aren't enough to warrant the suspicions of so many high-ranking ninja, including the Hokage herself."

All the veteran ninja flinched, the young heiress was right. If they wanted any hope of getting Hinata to be compliant, without the use of more torture, it seemed they were going to have to reveal one of the villages greatest, and most tragic, secrets. "You're right Hinata, those aren't good enough reasons. I don't fault you for not accepting our concern so readily. The problem is, in order to make you understand, I have to tell you a very dangerous secret about Naruto."

This caught Hinata's attention. What was there about her blonde love that she didn't know?

Tsunade could see the skeptical, but curious look in the Hyuga heiress' eye. It pained her to do this, but the Slug Sannin felt Hinata deserved to know the truth about Naruto and what he carried. "Hinata, what if I told you that everything you knew, concerning the Kyubi attack, was a lie?"

"Then I'd ask you to tell me the truth, Hokage-sama. Because, while this may be a ninja village, keeping too many secrets from one another can be a dangerous and destructive thing."

Tsunade was surprised at the mature response she received from one so young, but passed it off as an angry mind speaking words it didn't fully understand. "Very well, if you believe you can handle it, then I will."

"Tsunade are you sure you should be doing this? Do you really believe that this is the only option?" The interruption came from her fellow Sannin, Jiraiya.

"And what else would you have me do hm?" The buxom blonde turned and gave her old friend a questioning look, driving home the fact that there weren't really many other options. "We need to know if our theory is correct, and the only way to do that right now is to inform this girl of the truth."

"You're being too lenient Tsunade! First you allow a team of genin to bully you into sending them on a high-risk mission, and now you're about to divulge one of Konoha's most closely guarded secrets just to get information out of some girl! Information, I might add, that could easily be forced from her with after another session with Kure-."

"Silence!" The female Hokage yelled, effectively ending Jiraiya's rant. "I will not subject this girl to any more forms of torture just so we can learn, what will most likely be, some small and probably inconclusive piece of this puzzle! I'm the Hokage Jiraiya, and it's my right as such to relinquish this secret as I see fit!" Once she was done Tsunade turned back to Hinata; who was looking at her expectantly.

Clearing her throat, Tsunade began to speak, "-Ahem- Alright, here it goes. As you already know thirteen years ago the village was attacked by the Nine-Tails, that part is true, but what you were lied to about is how we avoided total annihilation. I say this, and not 'how the Nine-Tails was defeated', because the Kyubi is an entity of pure chakra; a beast of unfathomable power. And our Fourth Hokage, as powerful a ninja as he was, was still just a man. He fought the Nine-Tails tooth and nail for, as I was told, as long as my grandfather; the Shodai-Hokage, but was ultimately unable to defeat him...so he chose to seal the Nine-Tails away."

Throughout Tsunade's tale Hinata listened with rapt attention. While she wasn't quite sure yet what this all had to do with Naruto, the young kunoichi never once interrupted; instead listening for clues. This paid off when her ears caught the words 'seal away'; it was clear now what the secret was. "He sealed the Kyubi into Naruto-kun."

The pig-tailed Hokage heard the bedridden Hyuga's whisper, _'She catches on quick.'_

"That's partially correct. The Fourth chose to split the Nine-Tails in half, sealing away the foxes malevolent spirit inside himself and giving Naruto the beasts power; it was his way of leaving behind a gift for Naruto."

"Miss Hyuga you need to understand," Jiraiya spoke up, deciding he might as well be a part of the revelation, "Naruto's seal may keep the fox at bay but it's not unbreakable. We're investigating Naruto so thoroughly because we want to make sure the Kyubi isn't influencing him in any way. When your sensei informed the Hokage and myself of Naruto's sudden attitude change, we thought the seal was beginning to weaken."

Hinata sat silently as Jiraiya explained he and his colleagues fear; what she didn't let them see was that she wasn't totally convinced. While their fear made sense, it would be easier for them to just do a seal check as far as the Hyuga heiress was concerned. All the questioning and suspicion that the veteran ninja had displayed lead Hinata to believe that it wasn't _just _the fox they were afraid of.

"While I understand your reasoning," Hinata replied, "I feel that a seal check would have been more than enough to help alleviate or confirm your fears."

"Hinata please, we aren't asking for much, just give us _something_." It was Kurenai that tried to reach her student now; hoping the two of them still held some kind of bond.

At hearing her sensei's plea Hinata sent a sharp glare towards the older woman before replying, "You're asking me to betray the one I love, how is that not "much"! And don't assume that our history together gives you any pull here Kurenai-sensei, because after what you did, that's all it is...**history**!"

"Enough!" Tsunade yelled, having had enough. "Hinata, ignore the rest of them and just talk to me. You know I wouldn't be wary of Naruto without good reason; I just want to make sure he's alright."

The two kunoichi stared into each others eyes for what seemed like hours before Hinata, eyes unblinking, said: "I don't know much, Naruto-kun anticipated this would happen, and has kept me at arms length in terms of information, but I'm willing to give you the little bit that I _do_ know."

The group of veterans felt their shoulders sag in relief, that had been easier than they thought. But what they failed to see, was the sharp glint that passed through Hinata's eye as she started to speak.

"Alright, well, what Naruto-kun's told me was..."

oo0oo

Naruto raced through trees, making sure to keep Sasuke in his sights. They'd been playing "cat &amp; mouse" for the better part of an hour, and Naruto, at first, was impressed with his rogue team-mates speed. But the blonde swiftly threw that praise out the window when he remembered that Sasuke hadn't _earned _his speed, but had it _handed to him_.

Over the course of the month he'd been back, Naruto had about three of the military logs Caesar had written. And as he studied those documents the blonde could feel a growing respect for those who worked hard to call themselves warriors; such as Caesar's nemesis Gannicus, and the rebel leader Spartacus. Both had come from humble beginnings, and had worked to earn having their names etched into history. While the two men weren't roman, they were still worthy of being respected.

But alongside this growing respect grew a sense of disgust for those who were dishonorable, and who gained power, of any kind, through dishonorable ways; such as Sasuke with his curse-mark.

Coming back to his senses, Naruto noticed Sasuke was slowing down; an indication that they were arriving at their destination. So, putting thoughts of honor aside, Naruto stopped as he exited the forest and watched as the rogue Uchiha seemed to disappear at the foot of a statue, and re-appear atop its spiked head. Taking in his surroundings Naruto realized that his traitorous team-mate had lead him to the Valley Of The End; the final battle ground of the Shodai-Hokage and Madara Uchiha.

Looking around the young roman noticed that the Valley was a waterfall that poured into a large lake. The waterfall was bordered by two immaculately carved, stone statues. On the right-hand side, as if defending the village from invaders, stood Konoha's Shodai-Hokage, Hashirama Senju. And sculpted on the left, to embody his betrayal of Konoha, was Madara Uchiha. Both were garbed in plated samurai -like armor, and faced each other in the traditional "seal of confrontation" pose.

Before he could take in anymore of the stone work, Naruto was brought out of his thoughts by a kunai embedding itself in the ground, inches from Naruto's foot. Following the flight-path of the kunai the blonde found his eyes set on the figure of Sasuke, arm outstretched, standing top Madara's statue. "Eager to get started I suppose." With those words, Naruto raced up the statue of the Uchiha founder, and stood face-to-face with his former team-mate only, it wasn't entirely the face he remembered.

Sasuke's face was perfectly fine on the right side, but on the left, his face was marred by inky-black flames; the sign of the Uchiha's personal curse-mark. And with the markings came a sickly-yellow eye with a black pupil. Add to this Sasuke's twisted smile, and Naruto's eyes were presented with a truly disgusting sight.

As Naruto took in Sasuke's new appearance, so too did the Uchiha finally take full notice of Naruto's. The Uchiha could see the dents on Naruto's breast-plate, no doubt a memento of the blondes scuffle with that strange white-haired ninja. Sasuke's sharp eyes also picked up the dirt and dry blood on the blondes face; showing that Naruto had had trouble dealing with his last opponent. _'So, for all his big talk yesterday, the dope isn't as tough as he'd like everyone to think. Ha! I knew he was a fraud.'_

"Naruto, you know, with my increase in power, you have no way of defeating me now don't you? Why don't you just turn around and go home, that way, your whore doesn't have to cry over your death."

"While it **is** true you've grown stronger through whatever was done to you in that barrel, it still won't be enough to stand against the superior fighting skills of a roman officer. When this battle is over, you will have been defeated and I will drag your broken body back to Konoha by the roots of your hair." Naruto made no reference to Hinata in his deceleration, choosing not to take Sasuke's bait.

_'There it is again,' _Sasuke thought to himself, _'the dope called himself a "roman". He said something similar on the rooftop yesterday, I wonder what that means. I'll ask Orochimaru about it when I reach Oto, but first, I have to beat Naruto.' _Deciding not to waste anymore time, Sasuke recalled the activated curse-mark and entered into his 'Interceptor' stance.

Naruto, seeing Sasuke preparing for battle, silently agreed that words were no longer needed, and entered into his defensive stance. With his gladius raised to eye level Naruto stared, unblinkingly, into his rogue team-mates own onyx-black eyes. The blonde had learned in the academy how fierce, and dangerous the Uchiha clan's 'Interceptor Fist' was; he also learned that its effectiveness was reduced significantly if the user didn't have their sharingan activated. So, seeing a way through his opponents defenses, Naruto acted quickly.

Sasuke was impressed at the speed at which Naruto performed his opening attack. First Naruto changed his hold on his sword to a one-handed reverse grip, then, he pressed his right index finger into his left bracer and a moment later a cloud of smoke appeared. Sasuke was almost turned to shish-kebob when a spear bulleted out of the smoke and straight towards the rogue Uchiha. Only his advanced training with Kakashi gave Sasuke the reflexes and speed to twist around the spear that threatened to impale him. Thinking fast, Sasuke took hold of the end of the spear, and brought it around with him as he finished spinning. This played to his benefit because as soon as he was settled Sasuke had to bring up the spear to block a windmill slash from Naruto.

Choosing to force Sasuke to drop his stance, Naruto used the residual blood on his left bracer to summon his second pilum. Through his studies the blonde learned that a front-line legionary held only one pilum, but thanks to the use of sealing, Naruto carried five pilum in his bracer. Naruto didn't consider sealing to be a type of jutsu, but an advanced form of being able to backpack equipment. The blonde hurled the spear forward, not needing to see Sasuke, and swiftly followed after it once the pilum left his hand. What Naruto didn't expect was for his attack to be blocked by his own weapon!

Opting to press his attack, Naruto pulled back his gladius and tried to stab at Sasuke's stomach. He missed his mark again when the Uchiha boy jumped back, but it seemed Sasuke was done defending because, once his feet were settled, Sasuke attempted to run Naruto through with the blondes own weapon. But Naruto wasn't going to have any of that.

When he saw what Sasuke was doing the young roman grabbed the spear, just past the head, and used his impressive strength to rip the pilum from Sasuke's hands and tossing it aside. Like with Sakon, Sasuke was jerked forward, and met with a head-butt; the damage increased due to the officers helmet Naruto wore. The blonde pressed his advantage and buried his right fist into his opponents gut, followed swiftly by an uppercut, and an attempt to add a second scar to the Uchiha's chest. Attempted, because Sasuke used his speed to duck under the horizontal swipe, and tackled Naruto to the ground.

Sasuke hadn't been prepared for the onslaught he was put through at the hands of Naruto, but when he found an opening after the blondes uppercut, Sasuke would have had to have been stupid not to take it. Deciding that Naruto was too much trouble on his feet, Sasuke tackled him. His opponent landed on his back with only a small grunt, the armor apparently taking most of the impact. Sitting up on his knees Sasuke started raining down blows onto Naruto's face. The sound of his fist hitting the blondes face seemed to echo throughout the valley. When the Uchiha saw blood on his knuckles he grew excited, deciding to simply pummel his opponent to death the avengers eyes grew crazed as the curse-mark began to spread across his body; feeding off his dark glee.

Unfortunately, the rogue genin's plan was halted when Naruto moved his head forward and introduced Sasuke's fist to the forehead of his officers helmet. Immediately after impact Sasuke reeled back in pain, clutching his bruised knuckles. During the momentary reprieve Naruto tensed his back muscles and rolled backwards, his knees pushing into his opponents thighs forced the Uchiha to also roll forwards, and be thrown off of Naruto.

Naruto scrambled to his feet and turned to face his downed opponent. Cobalt-blue eyes watched as the raven-haired deserter moved onto all fours, and almost lost sight of him when Sasuke seemed to vanish. But the young roman managed to keep up enough so he could throw his arm up to cushion the roundhouse-kick that was thrown at him and, despite his increased strength, managed to send the off-guard Naruto over the edge of Madara's statue and down towards the lake below.

But the blonde managed to right himself in mid-air, and land on the surface of the water, chakra sent to his feet keeping him afloat. It wasn't long before Sasuke jumped down to follow, but not without sending a barrage of over one-hundred fireballs down with him.

Naruto was again introduced to the power of the curse-mark, as he knew Sasuke's chakra levels alone weren't high enough to let loose such a large quantity of fireballs. With the range of the attack being too wide-spread to simply avoid it, Naruto chose to demonstrate an impressive display of acrobatics, and ducked, weaved, and dodged the onslaught of fiery rain*. When Sasuke came down on him with kunai in hand the young roman was ready for him, and raised his sword to parry the Uchiha's thrust. Swiftly following this, Naruto raised his right arm to block a kick, grab Sasuke's ankle, and toss him away so as to give himself time to reset.

Sasuke righted himself with the help of a few somersaults along the lakes surface. When he was safely back on his feet he looked over to where he last knew Naruto to be; he wasn't there. Only a small grunt of excursion allowed Sasuke to keep his head, as Naruto took a swing from behind the Uchiha's back. Ducking the swing Sasuke pulled another kunai from his holster and drove it into his ex-team-mate's chest. The weapon made it through the armor, but stopped short of piercing any flesh; a testament to its crafters skill and the quality of the metal used.

Not letting this throw him off, Sasuke wrenched the kunai from the chest-plate, and, using the momentum, shifted behind Naruto and placed him in a headlock. Despite his blonde captives struggles Sasuke held his arm tightly around Naruto's neck, _'Lets see you get yourself out of-' _

"Argh!" Sasuke howled as he let go of Naruto.

While he'd struggled at first, Naruto's calculative mind reigned him in, and the young blonde was able to think of a way to free himself. Knowing his gladius was too long for the job, Naruto placed the sword in his right hand, before unsheathing his pugio and stabbing Sasuke in the upper-thigh.

Using the distraction of pain as an advantage Naruto began his retaliation. First, he threw his helmet-covered head back and slammed it into Sasuke's nose. Following swiftly behind this, Naruto spun and performed double, horizontal slashes across his rogue team-mates chest; first with the pugio, opening up his old wound, and second with the gladius, creating a new one right below it. And finally, the young roman performed a double assault: a knee to the gut, followed by a left backhand to the face.

After his onslaught Naruto watched as his backhand sent Sasuke flying, and landing on the edge of the lake, his lower-body submerged in the water and his upper-body folded against the shore. Sheathing his side-arm, Naruto started to stride over to his downed opponent, but when he got within ten feet, Sasuke turned and sent his clans prized {Great Fireball-Jutsu} hurtling towards the off-guard Uzumaki.

With no time to dodge the attack, Naruto was soon engulfed in the flames.

oo0oo

While Naruto was feeling the scorching heat of Sasuke's flames, someone else was feeling the agonizing pain of having their legs crushed under a pile of tree trunks.

Tayuya lay on the forest floor, bloodied, bruised, and defeated. Her entire lower half was trapped underneath the trunks of many large trees.

After Naruto had left Shikamaru to fight her alone Tayuya was quick to gain the upper hand. While her brilliant mind was outmaneuvered at every turn by the sloth-ish chunin, the red-haired flute player made up for it with her brutality. For all of his smarts, Shikamaru couldn't get past Tayuya's "Doki". All of that changed however, when Temari arrived and used her wind-style jutsu to counter every power-play the foul-mouthed kunoichi made. This resulted in Tayuya losing her cool, and ultimately making a mistake that left her wide open. Temari took that chance, and brought the forest down around them with her summoning, {Kirikiri Mai}. Tayuya, who'd been caught off-guard, was left with no means of escape, and was soon left laying in the forest; presumed to be dead.

_'Those fucking cunts!' _Tayuya roared in her mind, _'They think they've beaten me!? Well just wait until I get out of here, then I'll make that bitch pay for what she's done!' _

Tayuya, fighting the pain shooting through her body, attempted to activate her curse-mark so that she'd have the strength to remove the logs that covered her. But this failed; the mark didn't activate. _'W-What's going on!? There's no way I'm out of chakra, I barely used a fourth of my reserves against those two chicken-shits...unless...!' _

The beaten kunoichi aimed her flute so that she could see her neck, what she saw made her eyes nearly pop from their sockets. On her neck, where there once sat the curse-mark Orochimaru gave her, was now nothing but smooth, unmarred flesh.

"I-It's gone." Tayuya's hoarse voice cracked out. "M-My curse-mark, it's vanished! B-But that means, my heart actually s-stopped! NO! Now I'm stuck here, there's no way for Orochimaru to even know I'm alive now! Fuck, this is why I didn't even wanna be a part of this stupid mission; I knew something bad was gonna happen!" When she finished, Tayuya cringed in agony as her chest tightened from her outburst.

As she lay there, waiting to die, Tayuya found her mind drifting towards thoughts of the blonde who seemed to be the _real_ leader of the squad.

_'I guess this wasn't a total waste, I did get the chance to meet Blondie. "Naruto", I think that pineapple-haired little shit called him before the guy left to chase Kimimaro. Well, Naruto, if I ever find a way out of this, you can bet I'm gonna come looking for you.' _With thoughts of an armored Naruto dancing around in her head Tayuya laid her head back, and drifted into unconsciousness.

oo0oo

"So Naruto's changes are a result of a history lesson? I find that a little difficult to believe Miss Hyuga."

Hinata had just finished explaining Naruto's sudden new "attitude" to her audience of high-ranking guests. She'd explained that Naruto, told her, that while they were in Wave Tazuna had given him a history lesson on the country. The old bridge-builder had witnessed Naruto's curiosity in relation to the "old world", and saw no harm in indulging that curiosity. Afterwards, the blonde simply decided that the ancient roman warriors were, in his words, "cool", and he wanted to imitate them in hopes it would make others take him more seriously.

"Believe what you wish, Jiraiya-Sama, but that is what Naruto-kun told me that day we spent together. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Well, as I've said, I don't believe it. That story is a little too circumstantial, and doesn't hold together very well. Why did Tazuna-san not include the rest of your squad in this "history lesson", hmm? Did he not think anyone else might be interested?" As he spoke Jiraiya watched for any sign tat he'd gotten under Hinata's skin...he found none. The girl wore a perfect mask. _'Well, she __is__ Hiashi's daughter.'_

"I had already demonstrated knowledge of the ancient world, so he saw no reason to invite me. As for Yuhi-san and Ino-chan? Ino showed no interest in learning the history of the world, so Tazuna-san knew he'd just be wasting his time, and Yuhi-san is an adult; if she wanted to learn, she could have just asked." Hinata's dismissal of Kurenai's status shocked those in the room who knew how close the two were, and angered the red-eyed Jounin; who took it as a sign of disrespect.

"You are blinded by your feelings for Naruto! How can you honestly expect anyone in this room to believe such a story!?" Kurenai's anger was getting the best of her, but who could blame her? Her surrogate little sister was turning against her, as if all the years they'd spent together meant nothing.

Hinata's eyes narrowed at her sensei's accusation, "Blinded? If anything my feelings have only opened my eyes! Opened them to how this village really works, spying on its own citizens simply because they're different from how we believe them to be. Why are you all so worried? Naruto-kun has begun to take himself seriously, what's wrong with that? Especially after all the times I know you've all wished he would change."

"Hinata," Tsunade spoke out, "you know the relationship I have with Naruto. Do you think I'm investigating his behavior out of distrust, or fear for _myself_? No, I'm afraid for Naruto. If somethings going on with him, I just want to know as much as I can about it so that if it's dangerous to his health, physical or any other, I can help."

Tsunade's speech made the Hyuga heiress resolve falter, made her almost want to tell her the truth. But then she remembered that Naruto _trusted her_. That he'd told her, and mad her a part, of his plans because the blonde believed she was worthy to stand beside him. So, she restrengthened her will, and continued with her alibi.

"Lady-Tsunade, if there _was _anything to tell you, I would. But I can't tell you something that I myself do not know."

At hearing those words the pig-tailed blonde's shoulders slumped, and her hazel eyes took on a saddened light. It pained Hinata to see the woman like this, considering how close she was to Naruto, but the young bluenette knew that any other information would have to be revealed by Naruto himself; she was in enough trouble as it was if he found out she'd said anything.

oo0oo

Sasuke pulled himself out of the water and on to the edge of the forest. Looking behind him, the Uchiha took in the sight of the remaining flames from his attack dance across the surface of the lake; with Naruto no where to be seen.

"Ha," the rogue scoffed, "serves that fool right for thinking he stood a chance against me. And it's like I told him, at full strength I wouldn't even have to use my sharingan to defeat him." Sasuke looked through the flames a second time, before turning and beginning to walk away.

"And after all that talk of how I didn't stand a chance against a, what did he call himself, "roman officer"? Ha, just more garbage. That dope was nothing, and no fancy words were ever going to change that. Now, to get to Orochimaru, and have him train me so I can restore the honor of my fam-" Sasuke never got to finish, because he was soon in excruciating pain.

Looking down, Sasuke noticed that he now had a large gash in his right side, around his ribs. From his kneeling position on the ground the Uchiha noticed a spear was lodged in the trunk of one of the trees in front of him, "B-But that means..." Looking behind him Sasuke saw Naruto standing, post-throw, on the surface of the lake.

Over-all, Naruto looked relatively unharmed; as if the fire hadn't even touched him. The horse-hair on his helmet was singed, and the leather around his waist and on is shoulders only had botches of roughened leather.

_'It seems the Nine-Tails really does have his uses. If it weren't for him, I'd be laying belly-up along the surface of this lake.' _Naruto looked at Sasuke and took stock of the Uchiha's condition. With his side the way it was, the boy no longer posed any real threat as far as Naruto was concerned. As he began to stride over to Sasuke, Naruto began to speak, "Sasuke! I suggest you give up now. With that wound, there's no way you're going to defeat me and then be able to make it to Orochimaru. It's over now."

Sasuke heard Naruto's words, but they didn't register in his mind correctly. All he heard was, "There's no way you're going to defeat me...no way...no way." The young rogue felt something inside him snap at that moment, and he could feel the anger rush through his veins. A pulse echoed from within Sasuke's body, and then the area around him erupted into a tornado of vile, inky-black chakra.

Naruto stopped when he heard the pulsation that came from his ex-team-mate, and then took a step back and braced himself when the black tornado threatened to knock the blonde off his feet; any unprotected skin being slit open by the winds speed.

Shielding his eyes with his arms, the young Uzumaki looked in the direction of the tornado, and listened as a loud, angry roar was carried along its razor-sharp winds. In the cry Naruto's ears picked up several emotions. The primary one, of course, being anger but...the young blonde also picked up sadness, regret, and the pain of loss. Sasuke was letting out all the emotions he'd bottled up inside since the night of the massacre.

Then, with one last pulse, the storm died down, and Naruto got a look at Sasuke.

The Uchiha was outlined by a wave of malevolent, dark chakra. His entire body was covered in the black flame pattern of his curse-mark. Naruto could see, through the shredded remains of Sasuke's shirt, that the spear wound had healed. Looking into the boys eyes, Naruto took notice that they'd become the blood-red of the sharingan; only now, they each had **three** tomoe, instead of two.

Sasuke could _feel_ the power as it coursed through his veins. Bringing his hand up in front of his face, the Uchiha flexed, and noticed how the aura around him flared. He also took notice of how everything seemed so much..._clearer, _sharper. As if he could see every little detail. Sasuke realized that he'd unlocked the third stage of his sharingan.

Looking back over at Naruto, Sasuke let his lips turn up into a condescending smirk. He would have no trouble removing Naruto from out of his way now.

Naruto was unprepared for when his opponent vanished and he couldn't follow him. This left him open to the fist that buried itself in his gut; his armor, thankfully, absorbing a good portion of the blow again. But the shock to his system forced the blonde to drop his weapon, as well as open for the flip-kick that connected with his chin and sent Naruto rocketing into the air.

Sasuke followed after his target in haste, a thirst to repay the blonde for the humiliating defeat he'd handed him the force that drove Sasuke. When he reached Naruto, Sasuke clasped his hands together, and smashed them into the Uzumaki boys unprotected face. But, deciding that still wasn't enough, Sasuke sent chakra to his feet, and propelled himself back to earth; where he introduced his knee to Naruto's stomach. Now, laughing heartily, the young rogue gripped the neck and waste of Naruto's armor, and began to spin.

Naruto lost count of how many times he was spun around, but when Sasuke let go, he could feel skin strip from his body due to the speed at which he flew through the air. Before he could even attempt to right himself, Naruto plowed into the semi-circle that was the valley's waterfall. He hung there, the upper-half of his body lodged in the stone. But Sasuke wasn't finished yet.

The Uchiha was quick to follow his ex-team-mate. Using his chakra, Sasuke stuck his feet to the stone, grabbed Naruto's feet, and pulled. When he removed the blonde from the wall Sasuke tossed him in the air, wrapped his arms around Naruto's upper-body, and performed his {Falcon Drop}. As they reached a low enough altitude, Sasuke let go and, placing his feet on Naruto's back, kicked off and let the blonde rocket towards the ground.

Naruto was moving too fast again to be able to right himself and found his head colliding with the ground. A loud -crack- echoed throughout the valley.

Naruto's body, which lay on the sloping bottom of the wall, began to slide into the river. The blondes helmet split down the middle and fell from both sides of his head; revealing the blood that stained his long, wild hair. As he drifted belly-up in the water, Sasuke finally touched ground. The young sharingan wielder looked on as his former friend seemingly withered away.

What the Uchiha didn't know, was that inside the blondes mind, an entirely different scenario was taking place.

oo0oo

**(Naruto's Mind)**

Naruto felt wet and cold, and he could feel a terrible throbbing in his head. Reaching up to attempt to relieve it, the blonde noticed his arm was wet. _'Water?'_

The young roman sat up, and was greeted by the sight of, what looked to be, a sewer. The place was dimly lit, and ankle-high water flooded the floor. Looking around Naruto noticed that the pipes were large, but some had cracks in them. _'I feel like I've...been here before; but when?'_

Deciding to get a better look around Naruto stood up, turned around, and started walking. But before he could make it two steps the genin heard a sound, _'Was that a...growl?'_ And then the memory hit him.

He'd just begun training to summon toads from Jiraiya, who was training him for the blondes fight with Neji. But after multiple failed attempts at summoning any battle-ready toads Jiraiya, in his _infinite wisdom, _decided to help him out. This help came in the form of throwing Naruto off a cliff and into a ravine. After finding out that he couldn't use his chakra to stick to the walls, Naruto truly believed he was going to die...and then he entered **this** place...and met the Kyubi.

"Must be another one of those near-death things. Otherwise, I can't imagine why the giant hairball would want to see me."

With that said Naruto began to move towards the sound he'd heard. It took the blonde through multiple twists and turns within his own subconscious, until, finally, he arrived at the doors of a giant cage. It was made up of long, wide, vertically standing bars and had a piece of paper with the word "seal" written on it slapped over where one would find the lock. This was where the great Nine-Tailed fox was held.

Naruto walked closer to the iron bars, weary this time of the giant claws his prisoner held. When he got within ten feet he stopped. He could now plainly see two large, red, vulpine eyes staring back at him. With increased lighting, due to his close proximity to the cage, Naruto could see the shadowy outline of the mighty Kyubi; strongest of the nine tailed beasts. The fox was large, a single paw was big enough to hold at least one-hundred Naruto's in his hand. Currently, the fox was laying on his stomach, his giant head resting on his fore-paws. Kyubi opened his mouth, probably to speak, and revealed his deadly, razor-sharp teeth.

"**So, my container once again graces me with his presence. Considering your current..._predicament, _I'm not surprised, but I must say; I am pleased with the way you've afforded yourself lately."**

Naruto wasn't sure how to respond. It sounded as if the fox had just given him a compliment, but that couldn't be right, could it? "Uh, thank you? I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing here this time, but, if it's anything like that last time, I must be in pretty bad shape huh?"

The fox let a low growl rumble in his throat at the mention of their current situation before responding, **"-growl- Yes, you're here because you allowed that **_**Uchiha**_** to survive long enough, for him to get the upper hand. You were more than capable of killing him, AND had multiple opportunities, yet you chose not to; and so here we are. Even with as strong as you've become now there's still no hope of you defeating that boy and his increased power. You will need my help.**

Naruto's eyes hardened at being told he was no match for Sasuke. Did the fox not just watch him nearly end the fools life? "What do you mean I can't win!? He only managed to do _this_," the blonde gestured to the space around him, "because he surprised me. Now that I know ow fast hes is I'll be ready and-"

Anything the young Uzumaki was going to say was cut-off when the Kyubi interrupted him, **"You will STILL die. Only now it will be with the knowledge that, while you COULD have defeated him with my help, you chose to continue on without it because of your stupid pride! Listen here **_**boy**_**, you may have become stronger sine we last met, but you've also become weaker!"**

Naruto didn't understand what the Nine-Tailes was saying. How could he get stronger, but have gotten _weaker_? It didn't make sense to the blonde, and so he decided to voice his confusion, "What do you mean "weaker"? How could I have gotten weaker if you just told me I had gotten stronger?"

"**When I say that, I am referring to your ridiculous ideal that you can rebuild this ancient world power **_**without**_** the use of any jutsu. With this decision you've cut yourself off from an entire arsenal of weapons that you could use to accomplish your goal faster. Your battles so far have been against ninja who haven't had much experience, so of course you defeated, or stood against them on equal footing. But tell me this, how do you **_**honestly**_** think you'll fare against your villages Copy-ninja, or that Toad-Sage, or that Snake-in-the-grass Orochimaru? They will pick you apart if you rely only on your physical might. Look at your current situation if you need to as well. That fool is using a jutsu to enhance his strength, and now he's mopping the floor with you! Don't you see, if you add jutsu to your arsenal, you'll become a much more powerful warrior...and isn't that what you want? To show the entire world the might of the roman empire?"**

As he listened Naruto had to concede that the fox made a good argument. Did he really think he'd be able to stand up to Kakashi, let alone the Sannin? In order to expand the empire the blonde knew he'd have to get rid of any opposition; and that included _many_ high-level ninja. But wait...what about...

"What about Lee's sensei, the one who claims to be Kakashi's rival; Guy? He doesn't use jutsu and yet he fights on equal footing with the stupid scarecrow, so why couldn't I?"

The fox hadn't actually thought of that. The man Naruto spoke of did actually have the ability to challenge, and apparently, beat the sharingan warrior; but there was still a flaw in the blondes plan.

"**That may be so, and maybe you **_**could**_** battle the "scarecrow" and win. But do you think it will be easy? That man has years of experience under his belt, as an ANBU **_**and**_** as the student of your Fa-Fourth Hokage;" **the fox hoped Naruto didn't pay attention to his slip, **" defeating him will take time and energy. And if you use up your energy defeating just that one ninja, what will you do when you have to continue fighting? You'll be tired, and sloppy, and someone will eventually defeat you; effectively ending your master-plan. And you have to think beyond just Kakashi, there are ninja even **_**he**_** cannot face, even with the help of his jutsu. Like I've already mentioned, Orochimaru, your former sensei wouldn't dare try to battle that man alone because the fool knows he doesn't stand a ghost of a chance. And before the Snake you'll have to take on Kage's, who hold their position for a reason. You didn't think of this when you made that decision to not use jutsu, and now you're paying for it...but I suppose better now so you can learn from your mistake, rather than after you've been beaten and killed."**

"But I have you, so wouldn't I just heal and be able to keep fighting? I still don't see why my idea doesn't work."

The fox was beginning to get irritated with his container. After watching the boy grow from that Wave trip, and seeing that the blonde was actually _intelligent,_ Kyubi had hoped that Naruto would be able to grasp this concept quickly. But it seemed the boy wasn't quiet ready to fill his ancestors shoes, _**'At least, not yet.'**_

"**Naruto, you must understand that my ability to help you is limited by this seal. Yes, I can heal you from **_**just about**_** any injury, but the more severe the damage, the longer it takes. If you break your arm in battle, it will take **_**at least**_** two days for me to fully heal you. And while I **_**could**_** enhance you over-all with my chakra cloak, you wouldn't be using your own strength to defeat your enemies, so it would work against your goal. Out of my desire to survive, and my, begrudgingly, budding respect for you I will aid you in any way that I can, but I don't want a host that relies on me whenever his backs against the wall; it's insulting. The container for the Nine-Tailed fox should be, like myself, the most powerful being known to man. But by **_**his**__**own**_** power, not through use of my own. And besides, what will you do if your hit with another {Five-pronged Sea}, or are forced to battle Itachi Uchiha and his sharingan? Even Orochimaru fears Itachi, and the boy isn't even the leader of his little gang. Think about it, someone even that Snake is afraid of, answers to a person even **_**stronger **_**than him; what will you do against a foe like that?"**

After his question the fox looked at his blonde container to gauge the boys reaction to is words. The fox wanted Naruto to see that, in the world he lived in, he would have to adapt if he wanted any chance o accomplishing his goal.

Naruto stood silently as Kyubi finished his lesson. The blonde let his head drop, and his glazed eyes stare, unblinking, into the shallow water at his feet; staring intently at his own reflection. As he stared the young Uzumaki took in his appearance: shaggy, wild blonde hair that reached the nape of his neck and covered his ears. He could see the dirt and grime that covered his face from his battles of the day; black soot dusted his features from the fireball he'd been engulfed in. His armor was covered in dirt, and had dents from his battle with the white-haired ninja he'd battled before Sasuke. The blondes cobalt-blue eyes next spotted the puncture that Sasuke had managed to put in his armor, a decent sized horizontal gash sat in the middle of his chest-plate; over where his heart would be.

As he analyzed his appearance Naruto thought of a passage he'd read in one of Caesar's books. The man had just returned from war against a foreign force, upon returning to Rome was immediately called to Crassus' home. After arriving, the two men spoke of allying themselves to control the Republic, and then moved to the topic of the rebel Spartacus. As they spoke Caesar realized that, Spartacus' knowledge of roman military tactics, could used against him. It was, ultimately, this understanding that paved the way to the "Bringer of Rains" defeat.

"Use their own knowledge against them."

Kyubi heard Naruto as he whispered his epiphany, and, seeing that the blonde was ready to go back out and fight, spoke up. **"Yes, by using their own knowledge against them you rob them of their advantage, leaving them helpless to your superior power. Now, while this will help you **_**later**_**, I'm afraid you're going to need my help **_**now**_** if you want any hope of beating that Uchiha scum."**

As he spoke, the fox's malevolent, crimson chakra seeped out from between the bars and slithered towards Naruto. Once they reached him the tendrils wrapped around his ankles, and then began winding upwards, until they had the blonde wrapped tightly in a cocoon of crimson energy. Naruto just stood there, letting the chakra of the Nine-Tailes enter into his body, and fill him with power.

"**Good luck, kid." **Was the last thing Naruto heard before he was blinded by an intense white light.

**(Exit Naruto's mind)**

oo0oo

Sasuke had once again reached the edge of the forest, intent on continuing his journey to Orochimaru, when he felt the air around him _thicken _with killing intent. Looking around, expecting to find Kakashi, or maybe one of the others sent with Naruto, the young sharingan wielder was met with a horrifying sight.

Naruto, who he'd just left floating in his own blood, was being lifted out of the water by a cloud of crimson chakra! The blonde was set rightly on his feet and his blade, which he'd lost during Sasuke's assault, was placed back in his hand by a crimson tendril. Naruto was hunched slightly, his hair falling to shadow his closed eyes. Sasuke's newly developed sharingan could see that the blondes whiskers had darkened considerably, and his canines now poked out from underneath his upper-lip. The young Uchiha could also see that his ex-team-mates nails had lengthened, and sharpened, into sets of deadly claws. Naruto's arms, which already had a decent amount of muscle, were now bulked. But it wasn't until Naruto opened hi eyes, did Sasuke truly feel afraid.

When Naruto opened his eyes, they weren't the cool, calculating cobalt-blue Sasuke had seen on the roof, nor were they the hard, cold slates of steel he'd seen in their battle. No, these eyes were blood-red, and had a wild, animalistic glow about them. Sasuke could see an insatiable desire for blood, **his** blood, smoldering behind those red jewels of death.

Naruto's vision was blurry, everything other than his target was just a haze of shapes. _Sasuke_ was the only thing the blonde could see clearly. Gripping his sword tightly wit his left hand, Naruto crouched low, and then vanished from sight.

Sasuke looked around desperately for his opponent. One minute the blonde was standing right in front of him, the next, he was gone. And even with his new sharingan, Sasuke couldn't keep up. In hindsight, the Uchiha would later realize that Naruto would attack from behind, but at the moment, all Sasuke knew was that he was now flying forward after a spine-numbing spartan-kick. Before he could blink, Naruto was in his flight path, his hand clenched into a fist, and ready to bury it in Sasuke's face.

Fighting the force of resistance, Sasuke entered into a mid-air roll, and attempted to axe-kick Naruto in the head. Attempted, because Naruto just reached out and caught the raven-haired rogues leg. While still in the air, Sasuke swung his other leg around, and landed a kick to the side of Naruto's now unprotected head. Naruto, stunned from the blow, let go of Sasuke's leg.

The Uchiha used that time to jump back, and give himself time to recall the power of his curse-mark. But he underestimated just how fast Naruto would recover. Before the black flames could spread beyond his shoulder, Naruto was on him again. The blonde opened with a stab at Sasuke's chest. Sasuke risked his forearm to parry the blow, leaving him with a cut along his arm, but he was unprepared for the right-hook that followed after and struck him across the face. Using his momentum, Sasuke twisted himself into a mid-air roundhouse-kick, unfortunately, Naruto leaned back and avoided the attack; his increase in reflex and speed being made even more apparent.

While he performed the roundhouse, Sasuke pulled another kunai from his holster, and when he landed the young rogue attempted to hit Naruto with a rising-slash aimed for his chin. Again Naruto stepped back, only this time he retaliated with a swipe at Sasuke's open side. The Uchiha barely managed to twist away from the attack, and sloppily parried the reverse swipe that followed. However, this left a wide opening in his defense, and Sasuke's blonde opponent took advantage of this to land a blow, and leave a bleeding gash along the ribs.

Sasuke didn't get much time to express his pain, because it was soon added to by a burning sensation in his shoulder; where Naruto had just ran his sword. Performing a scissor kick, followed by a spartan-kick, Sasuke then used his chakra to propel him into the air; hoping to buy time to activate his secret weapon.

Naruto recovered from the assault, but when he looked up to find Sasuke, he was blinded by the sun; which sat smack in the middle of the sky. But he did see the figure that descended a moment later. Unsealing his fourth pilum, Naruto hurled the spear at his opponent. While it looked like it hit, a moment later the target burst into a cloud of smoke, and a log came down instead. Using his enhanced nose and ears the feral blonde searched for his prey. Those senses helped Naruto duck under a kunai swipe bent on removing his head from his shoulders. Flipping his blade behind him Naruto thrust backwards, but hit nothing but air as his opponent disappeared.

A grunt of pain found its way to Naruto's lips when he was hit by a gut-busting punch to his abdomen, and this time, the blondes enhanced hearing picked up the sound of his armor cracking under the constant pressure that'd been applied over the day. But the feral blonde didn't get time to think about it because he was lifted off his feet, and then punched in the face. Placing his hands on the lake's surface Naruto spun and attempted to sweep Sasuke's feet out from under him. Sasuke, not expecting the move, was knocked off his feet.

Once the raven-haired genin's back hit the water Naruto was up, and ready to drive his gladius into Sasuke's chest. His attack was halted when Sasuke gripped the blade with his bare hands. Blood dribbled down his arms and the blade as the Uchiha pushed the sword away and rolled backwards. Naruto wouldn't be deterred though, he immediately went to stab his gladius into Sasuke's face, and despite the sharingan wielders quick reflexes, the blade sliced through his cheek before he could get away.

Naruto stood and watched as Sasuke stumbled to his feet. When the deserter finally found his footing Sasuke looked towards Naruto, sharingan eyes blazing, and black flames stretched across the boys entire body.

"I see now why Itachi was trying to capture you, and that Sannin wanted to train you. You're a special breed of ninja Naruto..." As he spoke a whirlwind of dark chakra began to swirl around Sasuke, though not enough that Naruto couldn't watch the transformation that happened before his eyes.

Sasuke's skin-tone began to change from its pale, human color to a deathly, ashen gray. His fingernails lengthened, and sharpened into deadly talons, and his canines grew until they were visible past his now purple lips. Across the bridge of his nose a strange marking, like a four-point star, formed that stretched to underneath each eye. Next his hair began to grow, and spike out in wild directions. Sasuke's raven-black hair soon turned to a sickly powder-blue. And finally, the Uchiha hunched over as his shoulder-blades rippled, and a pair of wings in the shape of giant hands erupted from underneath his skin. All-in-all the once proud Sasuke Uchiha, had become a grotesque demon that matched the dark soul he harbored inside.

Sasuke opened his mouth, and finished his statement, "But, I'm more special than anyone else."

I Naruto heard him, he made no notion of it. He simply stood there...staring.

_**'It seems you'll need even more of my power Naruto. This new transformation is at least twice as strong as you are now.'**_

Naruto listened to Kyubi speak inside his mind and agreed, _'Alright, then give me what you can and lets be done with this...I'm bored of this ridiculous battle and want to go home.'_

Now it was Sasuke's turn to watch, as Naruto made a change to his appearance. A shroud of crimson chakra outlined the blondes entire form. Atop his head, the cloak produced what looked like long, pointed ears, while behind him the cloak formed a tail. Naruto's hands and feet were encased in chakra-paws that ended in claws, and his face now sported a snout made of the crimson energy. While not as..drastic, as Sasuke's change, Naruto's new appearance was nothing to scoff at.

Knowing his gladius wouldn't do much good in his wild state, Naruto sheathed his weapon, and crouched down onto all fours. Then, in a blinding burst of speed, the blonde shot towards the winged Uchiha with his elbow aimed at his solar-plexus. The elbow was caught by Sasuke's outstretched hand, but the feral Uzumaki didn't let that stop him; his chakra tail raced over Naruto's shoulder and punched the young rogue in the face.

As he staggered back Sasuke folded both his wings in front of him, just in time, to block an axe-kick. When he recovered, he spread his wings out, and sent Naruto flying backwards. Sasuke's sharingan eyes watched as their blonde target skidded across the waters surface, chakra keeping him above water. Going through a set of hand-signs, Sasuke puffed up his cheeks, and let loose the {Dragon Fire Technique}. A large, twisting dragon shot forth from the Uchiha's mouth and headed straight for Naruto, its flaming maw opened wide.

The young roman watched the dragon of fire racing right at him. Instead of dodging or blocking the attack, the blonde just inhaled a deep breathe, and bellowed out a powerful roar. The vibrations of the roar were **visible **as they moved to meet the raging dragon. When they collided, an explosion occurred that shook the lake and covered the area with a heavy steam.

While Sasuke would normally be able to see through steam or fog, this shroud was heavily laced with the residual chakra of the two ninja's attacks. This left him unprepared for the giant, crimson paw that burst from the steam-cloud and landed a heavy punch to Sasuke's chest.

The Uchiha could hear his ribs give out under the pressure of the surprise attack; two on each side breaking. But instead of flying back, the clawed hand grabbed his ankle, and pulled Sasuke towards its owner. It wasn't long before they reached Naruto's prone form, his arm outstretched in the direction of the crimson limb. When he got within striking range Naruto made the chakra-paw let go, and close-lined Sasuke; who's breath left him as the blondes arm met his throat.

However, Naruto wasn't done yet. As Sasuke began to drop, the young roman wrapped his hand around Sasuke's throat, and lifted him into the air. The crazed Uchiha struggled intensely to break the blondes hold on him, but Naruto's already lion-like strength, enhanced by the Nine-Tailes chakra, made it impossible for Sasuke to break the hold.

"When I took this mission," Naruto's gravely voice rumbled out, "it wasn't to bring you back to Sakura, or to keep your filthy sharingan in the village. I did it because of what you did to not only Hinata, but to me." This confused the captive Sasuke, _'What is he talking about?'_

Naruto could obviously see the confusion on his ex-team-mates face, so he decided to elaborate. "You were my brother Sasuke, and you threw that away to try and gain power from a lunatic, who only wants to make you stronger so he can take control of your body! And yet you don't care! Even now, I can see in your eyes that what I'm saying isn't getting past your pride. Well, how about this: you want Orochimaru to give you the strength to defeat Itachi, but Itachi is _stronger_ than Orochimaru; so how is learning from _him_ going to make you strong enough to defeat your brother!? "

"S-Shut up! Just shut up! You don't know anything, you stupid orphan. I **need** to get stronger so that I can restore the honor of the Uchiha clan. It's been dragged through the mud, and now, all anyone has to say about us is how evil our clan is! But I wouldn't expect a clan-less **loser** to understand things like family honor or the importance of your name, because nobody cares about _you."_

"And is that why you assaulted Hinata? An innocent girl who's done nothing to you! You traitorous fuck, before we started I told you that I'd be dragging you back to Konoha by your hair. And as you know, I keep my promises."

Sasuke started struggling harder, not wanting to lose his chance at getting stronger. Everything Naruto said was pushed to the dark corners of the Uchiha boys mind as he tried to ind a way to free himself; and then he remembered a jutsu Kakashi had taught him.

It was the only seal-less technique he knew, Kakashi told him he needed to know at least one. It was a relativity low-ranked lightning jutsu, but it would get the job done. So, placing his hand around Naruto's arm below the bracer, Sasuke choked out:_** "Tento Denryu"**_.

Naruto howled in pain as lighting traveled along his uncovered arm. His hand went numb and the blonde was forced to drop Sasuke. Once he let go, Naruto was punched in the face and sent sailing through the air. The blonde rolled until he came to a stop on the far right of the waterfall. When he stood up Naruto noticed that Sasuke had activated his _**Chidori**_, and was ready to impale him with it.

**'_The Rasengan kid, it's your only option against this move right now.'_**

Naruto chose to, begrudgingly, trust the Kyubi's judgment and held his working hand out. Soon, a rotating, violet sphere formed in his hand; its size double what the blonde would originally create.

Sasuke kicked off and raced towards Naruto. The blonde, seeing this, decided to meet his former friend in the middle, and kicked off as well.

Eventually, the inevitable happened, and the two boys met in the center of the waterfall. Their two attacks shaking the entire valley as they collided, and then imploded.

oo0oo

It was raining now. The world was being blanketed by a sheen of moisture. Even the condensed and heavy treetops couldn't keep the rain away from the two figures that were jumping through the forest. One was a blonde with wild, shoulder-length blonde hair in a strange military uniform. The other, who was being carried on the former's back, was a shirtless, raven-haired youth that was covered in cuts and bruises.

Naruto's _**Rasengan**_ had beaten Sasuke's _**Chidori**_, and now the young roman was returning home with his captive.

On his way home Naruto couldn't help wondering how the rest of his team had fared against their opponents. Especially his fellow roman, Shikamaru. "That red-head was no push over. That lazy slacker better have gotten his act together; I don't want to have to find someone to replace him in the Triumvirate."

As he muttered to himself Naruto noticed that the area around him was becoming less and less condensed, as if the trees had been cut down. _'But that makes no sense. Why would someone just cut down trees at...random.'_

The blonde remembered how Gaara had come to his aid, and deduced to Temari must have assisted Shikamaru. Feeling his respect for his political wife grow, Naruto reminded himself that he'd have to find a way to thank his fellow blonde when he returned.

"And speaking of blondes," he growled out. Naruto was reminded of another blonde kunoichi back in the Leaf that was still in need of punishment; but all thoughts about that were thrown out the window when Naruto noticed dot of red out of the corner of his eye. Stopping on the next branch, the young Uzumaki looked back and saw the red-haired kunoichi from the Sound Four, buried under a pile of what appeared to be tree trunks.

Deciding to check it out, the Uzumaki boy turned around, and leaped over to the downed girl.

oo0oo

When Tayuya opened her eyes she was expecting to be met with the sight of the Shinigami, coming to take her to Hell, or worse, to eat her soul for the bad things she'd done in order to prolong her life. What she wasn't expecting, was to open her hazel eyes to the sight of the handsome blonde in the strange armor that was leading the team that chased hers down.

"W-What is this? I thought -gasp- I thought I died. O-Or is this -wheeze- all just a trick?"

The blonde knelt down so that they were face-to-face, "Excuse me Miss Tayuya, but would you mind explaining what happened here, and how you managed to get yourself into such a state?"

The foul-mouthed red-head could feel her eyes widen in shock and confusion, _'H-He knows my name?'_

"If you're wondering why I know your name, I heard it from one of your comrades back when I slowed you down with my pilum."

"Oh...what the fuck is a pilum?"

Naruto couldn't help it, he laughed at Tayuya's word choice, "Hahaha, "pilum" is just my ancestors word for spear. And now that I've answered _your_ question, perhaps you'd be so kind as to answer _mine_."

Even from upside-down Tayuya was captivated by the cobalt stare that held her in place. The red-head tried to be angry with herself, tell herself that she shouldn't be so easily swooning over some guy who was her enemy...but, she couldn't help it. Most guys she'd met were the worst kind of scum. But then again, all the males she knew were citizens of _Oto_, so she shouldn't have been surprised. When Naruto cleared his throat to imply his impatience, Tayuya decided to test him.

"And why should I tell you, you retarded-fuck. What good will that do me, huh? Why don't you just run along back to your village and cry to your bitch of a Hokage about how you failed to retrieve that prick Uchiha."

"You mean," Naruto pointed his thumb behind him, "that prick Uchiha right there? And, listen, I'm only asking because I'm sure you've been laying here a long time, alone, and would probably like some help getting unburied. Or, I could be wrong, and you have some of your Sound Village buddies coming to collect you...although, from what I hear of Orochimaru, he doesn't tolerate failure too well."

Throughout the blondes explanation Tayuya's face moved from one emotion to the next. First, she was in awe of the blonde for making it past Kimimaro and then beating the Uchiha. Next, she felt a sense of hope that maybe, just maybe, Naruto was really going to help her. Then that hope nearly died when he suggested leaving her there, because he was right, even if Orochimaru did send a squad to retrieve her, she was likely the only one of her team-mates to survive the mission...a mission that had failed; and the Snake **hated** failure. So when she saw the blonde stand up to leave, Tayuya swallowed her pride and called out to him, "W-Wait! Please, wait, don't leave me here like this. Even if that pasty-faced freak does send someone to get me, I'm as good as dead when I get back so please, help me?"

Naruto had been bluffing. He wasn't really going to leave the girl there, but he could see in her eyes that she really did want help; she just needed to get her pride out of the way first.

So the Uzumaki boy turned back and knelt down in front of the red-haired girl again, "Okay, but my price still stands. If you want me to help you, just tell me what happened."

And she did. Tayuya relayed the entire battle to Naruto, throwing in her two cents every now and then, until she finally arrived at the point in the story where she'd been, essentially, buried alive.

"See," Naruto said humorously, "that wasn't so hard was it? And now, I'm going to help you out of here, just like I told you I would."

Tayuya was overjoyed, although she didn't let it show on her face, until another thought occurred to her: "Wait, what's the catch?"

"Catch?"

The girls hazel eyes narrowed in suspicion, "Yeah, catch. I can't fully believe that you're just doing this out of the goodness of your heart. You want something; what is it?"

"Funny that you think I want anything from you. That's not to say I don't, but, it's not the _something_ you think it is." Naruto's dismissive response annoyed the injured former bodyguard, and it showed in her response.

"And what do you think, I thought you wanted," she replied haughtily.

"Your body."

Tayuya's cheeks dusted a light-pink at the blondes quick, and _accurate_ response. The embarrassed red-head did indeed think that that's what Naruto wanted. "Well, if you aren't going to make me your sex-toy, what other reason would you have for freeing me?"

"I need your skills; if I manage to acquire your body along the way well, that's just an enjoyable plus for me."

The way he spoke so easily about the subject made the former Sound-ninja's stomach do flips. Sure she'd had guys hit on her, but she'd never had one be so nonchalant about it; as if he didn't care either way if he got her or not.

"Need my skills for what, exactly? Because the last time someone said that to me I wound up with an ugly hickey on my neck."

Naruto, remembering his talk with Kyubi, put his fingers in a familiar cross-shape, and summoned a handful of clones. Directing them to start moving the tree trunks, he returned his attention to the flute-playing kunoichi and explained his goal.

As Naruto spoke, Tayuya felt something start to flutter in her stomach. Something about the way the blonde spoke so passionately about his goal made the young girl feel like she was back in Oto's ninja academy, and she was one of those girls pining for the rookie of the year.

"Unfortunately," the charming voice broke through the red-heads fogged brain, "I'm unable to just carry you through the Leaf Village gates. So, what I'm going to do, is leave a century(about 80) of clones here to guard you while I go back and turn this punk in. And then, during the night, I'll come get you and hide you in my home.

While Tayuya didn't want him to just leave her there, she resigned herself to wait for him, knowing that the blonde was sincere in his intentions.

oo0oo

When Naruto returned to the village gates the rain had picked up, and was now hammering down on the two boys, washing the dried blood from their bodies.

As he trudged closer to the main gate Naruto noticed the two gate guards, Izumo and Kotetsu, ever vigilant at their posts. "Hey, a little help here?"

The two guards looked over, and when they saw the last member of the retrieval team coming up with the rogue Uchiha on his back, the two men were quick to run over and relieve Naruto of his burden.

"Naruto, welcome back," Izumo greeted the blonde.

"Good job completing your mission Naruto," Kotetsu greeted at the same time.

The blonde looked at the two older ninja with weary eyes and merely nodded his head in acknowledgment. "I need you to take me to the Hokage, so that I can report in."

"Uh, don't you think you should rest a little before reporting to Lady-Tsunade? You're pretty banged up from the looks of it, and we wouldn't want you collapsing in the middle of your report."

Naruto turned his eyes to Izumo, his eyes hardening into their calculating stare, "No, I don't think I should rest, I know that I want to report in and get this mission over with. So if you could do your job, and escort me to the Hokage's location, I might not have her give you guys Tora chasing duty for six months."

The two guards turned white as sheets at the thought of chasing the Daiymyo's wife's cat for so long.

Naruto had just been dropped at the hospital by Kotetsu while Izumo carried Sasuke inside to be admitted. The blonde made it about ten steps inside before he was confronted by his body-slave, Ino Yamanaka.

"Master, I'm glad to see you've returned safely from retrieving the traitorous Uchiha." As she spoke Ino folded her hands in front of her and bowed, her first lesson under Naruto's command.

"Yes, it was difficult, but I managed to subdue him But I have no time for pleasantries, I need to speak with Tsunade and report in."

But before the young Uzumaki could walk past her, he felt a hand take hold of his arm and stop him. Naruto stopped cold, turned around, and gave his fellow blonde a warning glare.

"_You seem to forget your place, __**slave**_." Ino quickly let go, and bowed submissively as she apologized.

"Apologies, I over-step, but only because there's something I must speak with you about. I implore you master, this is something you _need _to hear."

Naruto was close to disciplining Ino for her forwardness, but remembered he was in a public place, with the daughter of a clan head, and decided he'd hold back. "Speak plainly then, and pray that I find your words hold worth."

Ino swallowed the lump in her throat before answering, "Yes, o-of course. You see, Master, what I've found is: Hinata-sama has revealed information about your trip to Wave, to several high-ranking ninja; including Lady-Tsunade." The platinum-blonde made sure to refer to Hinata in respect around their Master, knowing that anything else was not tolerated.

When she looked up at her Master, Ino could see the cold fury in his eyes, and how his muscles tensed in preparation to strike her. While her fellow blonde hid and dismissed his soft spot for the Hyuga heiress, Ino knew it was there, and understood that she'd crossed a line in accusing her of treason.

"I hope you can prove this Ino, or else you are going to be in **very** unpleasant trouble when we return to my home."

The Yamanaka heiress was shaking as she replied, "M-Master I assure you, this is no game. I tell you this because it is true; I would never say otherwise. A-As for proof, well, you can go to her room now and see all the ninja yourself. Why do you think Lady-Tsunade is even here? She'd be back in her office if I wasn't telling the truth."

Naruto, while not wanting to believe it, understood that Ino had a point. Why would Tsunade be here instead of her office? She was the Hokage first, and a medic-ninja second. Naruto could feel something inside him crack. "Let's go."

Ino didn't even ask, she just followed her Master, and directed him towards Hinata's room.

They didn't walk long before they arrived outside the Hyuga heiress' door. Looking in the window, Naruto could see the many ninja that formed a semi-circle around Hinata's bed. Before any of them could see him the young roman opened the door and entered the room.

Once he stepped through the door all eyes moved to look at him. Naruto could see the varying types of looks he was receiving; most of them weren't very friendly.

"Genin Naruto Uzumaki reporting in, and ready to give his report, Hokage-Sama."

The buxom Hokage looked at her surrogate little brother with concealed warmth as she turned to address him; she was happy to see him return safely. "If you're ready to report, I'm ready to listen."

Angling his arms and taking hold of his right wrist, Naruto stood straight and gave his report, "The mission was completed Lady-Tsunade, after the rest of my squad stopped to do battle with members of the Sound Four I chased a white-haired, male ninja into a clearing. Once we stopped, he put down the barrel, which I'm sure the others have already explained, and we proceeded to do battle. It seemed it would continue in a stalemate, but Sabaku no Gaara arrived to turn the tide of battle in my favor. However, before we could re-engage the enemy, the barrel exploded, and the traitor Sasuke Uchiha stood before us. Sasuke spoke words to me before running off; naturally, I followed. We arrived at the Valley Of The End, and proceeded to do battle. After a lengthy confrontation, I defeated Sasuke Uchiha, and have returned him to Konoha; he has since been admitted to the hospital, and awaits your judgment."

Many in the room were impressed with Naruto's report, while others still only looked on in suspicion.

"Thank you Naruto," Tsunade replied, "you may be at ease now." It looked like she wanted to say something else, but the pig-tailed blonde was interrupted by the arrival of the Konoha elders; Danzo, Koharu, and Homura.

Looking to the elders in disdain, Tsunade greeted the three, "Elders, to what do we owe the _pleasure_ of your company?" All could hear the sarcasm that dripped from the Hokage's mouth.

"Tsunade." Danzo greeted. "We are here because, after seeing the condition of Sasuke Uchiha, we have called for a Council meeting."

"On what grounds do you call this meeting Danzo? Last time I checked **I **was the Hokage, and those meetings were called or scheduled by **me**." Seeing the hardened look in the bandaged Elder's eye unnerved Tsunade, and his next words pushed her heart into her throat.

"On the grounds that Sasuke Uchiha was retrieved with unnecessary force. I'm sure, once you see him, you will agree. But until then we must decide the punishment for the one responsible."

Tsunade's hazel eyes narrowed in angry suspicion as she asked, "What do you mean..._punishment_?"

Dnzo could hardly keep the gleeful smile from his face. Ever since Naruto had been made the Jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tailes, the old war-hawk had tried to get the Council to agree to giving Danzo control over the boys training. When all his attempts failed, Danzo decided that, if he couldn't use Naruto as a weapon, then the boy was too dangerous to be left alive. So, when he saw the state that Sasuke had been returned in, the bandaged elder knew that he now had the leverage to call for the boys death.

"Well, Tsunade, as you know Sasuke is the last Uchiha of Konoha. And as such, his genes are very important to our future. In a few years young Sasuke will be old enough to reproduce, and the Uchiha clan will once again be a major force in our military. However, that future could have very well been snuffed out because of the reckless actions of young Naruto here, and it's only lawful that the boy be punished for his crime."

Tsunade could hardly believe her ears. This old crow was really going to try and have Naruto banished, or worse, because he didn't like the way Naruto completed his mission!?

"Danzo you can't be serious! You really think your plan is going to succeed?"

"Oh I'm sure of it." Danzo didn't look the least bit worried, and that worried Tsunade; it was like the trial was already over.

Naruto, the entire time, didn't pay attention to the two older ninja arguing. No, his focus was on the young girl laying in the hospital bed. The blonde was trying to discern if the girl had really talked, but he couldn't be sure until he asked her himself.

He got his chance when Tsunade and the Elders left, a quick word to him about when to be at the Hokage building the only words spoken to him, and the Jounin left to visit their genin.

When Hinata saw that Naruto had stayed, she expected to see the concealed warmth that she'd become accustomed to, but what she got, was the cool, calculating stare of her Master, not her Love.

"I-Is something wrong Naruto-ku-"

"Hold your tongue. Until I say otherwise you are to refer to me as Master, and nothing else."

Hinata felt her eyes widen in shock at the tone Naruto used with her; he never used that tone with her. "O-Of course Master, but, have I done something wrong?"

"I don't know, have you? Because I've been informed that you told those ninja that were just here about the things I told you about our Wave trip. But, that couldn't be true right? Because I remember having you promise never to speak of my plans to **anyone **without **my** permission."

Hinata could feel her stomach tighten into a knot at hearing that news. She knew she'd have to tell Naruto about her weakness, but Hinata had hoped to break it too him in her own way; but it seemed that wasn't happening now.

"Master, I-I didn't tell anyone of your plan, I swear! B-But, I will admit, that I told them of some things involving what you told me about Rome, and I told them that your sudden change was due to your fascination with their military and a desire to be like them."

"So, you _did_ talk." The cool way he spoke sent a shiver up Hinata's spine.

"Y-Yes."

"And how did they get you to talk? Surely you didn't just _volunteer _the information, you must have been _persuaded_ to tell them."

Here was where Hinata was afraid of how her blonde love would react. She knew that he would be displeased with her, and how easily she'd been broken.

"P-Please, Master, d-don't make me tell you. I-I can't bare the thought of h-how disappointed you'll be w-when you hear how it happened."

"Only through the truth, do you have hope of forgiveness."

"...t-tickling"

Naruto could feel the veins in his temples throb at hearing how his tool had been broken. How could he trust her to take care of anything important if she was so easily defeated? "How...disappointing."

Hearing that Naruto was disappointed in her made Hinata feel as if an ice block had dropped in her stomach. She'd let down her most important person, and now it seemed like he would never look at her with that warmth in his eyes again.

"You understand that I can no longer trust you with information. If you can be broken so easily, I almost question what good you are to me."

At this point, Hinata could feel her heart breaking. If she was of no use, to the only person she wanted to please, then what purpose did her life have?

"Lucky for you," Hinata leaned forward, desperate to know how to redeem herself, "your medical and combat skills are still useful to me. Those will be your roles from now on; you are my soldier, and the head of the medical corps. However, you will no longer be held in confidence in important matters that concern the rebuilding of the empire, and shall report to Ino, and later, Temari once I have established a firm hold on rebuilding the empire."

To here how far she'd fallen in the eyes of her love made Hinata want to cry, but she knew that to do so, in front of her Master, would only diminish her further in his eyes. So, with a heavy nod, and a suppressed shudder of grief, Hinata accepted her new role.

Beside Naruto, and listening to the entire conversation, Ino had to control herself so as not to outwardly express her joy at the recent turn of events. With Hinata answering to **her** now, Ino could finally express how she truly felt about her fellow "sister", and how much she resented her for being their Master's second. Ino could practically feel the joy she'd experience when she and Hinata were left alone together, and the Yamanaka heiress would humiliate the other girl.

But before her thoughts could go too far, a nurse appeared, and told Naruto that he had just been summoned by ANBU to the Council chamber.

Looking between his two slaves, Naruto addressed them, "As you've both just heard, I need to leave you both for now. Hinata, remember, you now fall under Ino and must follow her commands as if they were my own. Ino," he turned to look his fellow blonde in the eye, "you may do as you wish as long as it does not physically harm Hinata; I still need her after all."

Ino looked to her Master, only letting a small smile make its way onto her face, and answered, "Of course Master, as you say. I will not cause Hinata any physical damage."

With his will accepted, Naruto turned and exited the hospital room, never seeing the devious smile that made its way onto Ino's face.

The platinum-blonde looked Hinata in the eye and, as she advanced towards the bed, said, "Funny thing Hinata, the Master didn't even have to order me not to hurt you."

This gave Hinata some relief, "H-He didn't?"

"Nope. Because what I have planned isn't gonna make you scream with pain, but with _laughter_."

Hinata audibly swallowed a lump in her throat as Ino stood beside her bed.

oo0oo

Naruto arrived in minutes to the Council chamber. When he reached the big, oak doors he knocked, and when he heard "Enter", he pushed open the doors and made his way inside.

The Konoha Council chambers looked similar to the way Suna had theirs set up, only the Leaf Village had empty seats where the Uchiha, Senju, and Sarutobi clans would have sat. Naruto looked around the room and gauged each occupants reaction to his presence. There weren't many good ones.

"Naruto Uzumaki," it was the Elder, Danzo, who had spoken, "do you understand why you are here?"

"To be tried for completing a mission in an, according to you, unsatisfactory way."

The mummified war-hawk bristled at the young Uzumaki's blatant disrespect. "No boy. You are here to be _sentenced_ for the crime of attempted murder; there is no trial."

Naruto swiftly turned to look between Danzo and Tsunade. While Danzo looked impassive, Naruto could see the hint of condescension in his features; Tsunade just looked defeated. "Would you mind explaining what you mean councilman? I was tasked with returning the rogue, Sasuke Uchiha to Konoha; is he not being treated at the hospital as we speak?"

"While you _were _given the mission, no where in the mission specs did I see any order for excessive force. You simply could have spoken with young Sasuke, and I'm sure he would have returned home."

Naruto, after such a trying day, was beginning to lose his patience, "Councilman, have you ever had to try and retrieve a rogue ninja? If so, then you'd understand that those people leave because they either: no longer wish to live in that village, or they decide that another village can give them what their current village can not. Sasuke Uchiha left Konoha, to train under another Leaf Village traitor, so that he could bring about the death of...another missing-ninja of Konoha. And you ask me if I tried to talk to him? No, I did not, but only because Hinata Hyuga already tried the night Sasuke decided to abandon his home."

"Unfortunately, young Naruto, that is all irrelevant. As I've already said, this is simply a sentencing for your crimes."

"Then why did you ask me?"

Danzo could feel the veins in his temples pulse as some of the other councilman chuckled at his expense. _'Impudent brat! Let's see how funny you find all this when you're __**dead**__!'_

"As I was saying, we of the Konoha Council have decided that you, genin Uzumaki, are guilty of unnecessary force during the completion of a mission, and attempted murder of a fellow Leaf Village ninja. As such, we have decided that, with killing you being too risky, considering your..._condition_, you will be banished."

Naruto was stunned at the revealing of his punishment. He'd assumed he'd get a suspension, or be sent back to the academy, but not banished! He would have to start his plan from the ground up!

Before he could delve too far into his annoying new reality, Danzo spoke up again, "You have until midnight tonight too gather up any belongings you wish to take with you and say your goodbyes to anyone you wish to say them to. If you are found in the village after the appointed time, you will be executed on sight."

The young blonde could only narrow his eyes in anger at the turn of events, and stride angrily out of the Council chambers.

oo0oo

Naruto stood at the main gate of Konoha. On his back he carried the rucksack he'd brought back from Wave over a month ago. He'd finished speaking with everyone he needed to talk with, and was now ready to head to Wave again.

First, He'd spoken with Shikamaru. He explained his plan to rebuild Uzu, and then expand from there. But first he'd need to get to Wave and get all his ducks in a row, and then he would send word to his fellow roman. Next he spoke with Konohamaru. When he told the young boy about his fate, the young Sarutobi couldn't stop a few tears from running down his face. But these were quickly dried away when Naruto gave him the order to continue his training, and then he handed the young academy student a letter to read after the blonde left.

After visiting those two, Naruto made his way to the Suna embassy, where Gaara and his siblings still resided. He once again explained what happened, and had to turn down an offer to join the Sand Village. The blonde explained that, while he couldn't tell them anything right now, soon the Sand Village would be part of a great, and noble power. However, before he left, Gaara's sensei Baki stopped him and told the blonde that Suna had a very interesting history that Naruto might want to study up on; since he still planned on marrying Temari.

And finally, Naruto returned to the hospital. This meeting was cold, and had none of the friendly atmosphere that the other meetings had. Naruto walked in on the two girls arguing with each other, but he was quick to put a stop to that. After they were settled down Naruto told the girls of the Council's decision, as well as his plan. While the two kunoichi were distraught over their Master's leaving, each took comfort in their own minds about what they could accomplish while he was away. For Ino, it was how much she could break Hinata's spirit, and for the Hyuga heiress it was how best to regain favor with her love.

So, after leaving the hospital, Naruto made his way to the main gate. Now, standing on the edge of the new horizon, Naruto felt no fear; only confidence.

"The die has been cast...and we must see game, to bitter end."

oo0oo

_A/N: And DONE! Honestly this one had some difficult parts in it. The beginning and end were honestly pretty difficult, and I don't even really like the beginning lol; it felt forced. But, it had to be there._

_The * I put, I'm referencing the actual Naruto/Sasuke fight. Sasuke does something that I actually thought was cool when they're fighting. Some kind of fire storm is raining down or something, and Sasuke performs these cool acrobatic maneuvers to avoid them. Speaking of Sasuke, how did I do? _

_So Naruto has returned jutsu to his list of skills, and I have something interesting I want to do with some of those. And I've introduced the Nine-Tailes. Personally I think the fox is freaking cool, and I hope I can incorporate him a little more. Now, this doesn't mean Naruto's gonna be using the chakra cloak all the time or anything like that, just, have the fox as council._

_The next chapter is going to be all about what life is like in Konoha without Naruto, so, there won't be any Caesar development. However, since I'll be doing time-skips, you will see the evolution of Konohamaru, Hinata, Shikamaru, and many other characters. Some rise up, and others fall even further into the dark._

_Naruto's banishment is going to be explored in a multi-chapter "arc", and will explain how he begins to build his central base of power that will be the reconstructed Rome. Speaking of Rome, I'm gonna have a map of Europe and the Elemental Nations up, because I looked, and the E.N. Looks like Europe flipped over; at least to me lol._

_I'm also going to post some links to some video's I think are freaking cool that have to do with Caesar._

_Well, that's all I can think of. If there's anything you guys wanna ask me or talk to me about, just PM me, or leave a review. Thank you for your continued interest, and I hope you look forward to the next chapter :)_


	10. Et Videndum Ludum, ad Extremumque

Ch. 10- Et Videndum Ludum, ad Extremumque

(...and we must see game, to bitter end.)

The sun was just coming up over the horizon, its rays casting new light over the village of Konoha. As the light form the sun illuminated the city, the streets were shown to be vacant; a common occurrence in the last few weeks. However, one person was up, and ready to greet the new day.

Hinata Hyuga was standing in front of her bathroom mirror, brushing her hair that now reached her ears. After Naruto's banishment the young heiress had devoted herself to becoming everything the blonde would need in a soldier...and a women.

Once she'd finished with her morning routine Hinata went to get dressed. Gone was her old cream-colored hoodie. Hinata decided that she'd need something more battle appropriate, so, her new outfit was comprised of: A gray, mesh-armor top and black, bicycle shorts; like she'd seen Sakura wear. Hinata now had shin-guards like she'd seen Naruto wear, and also had plated metal armor that was tied to her arms, it started from her shoulders, and went down to before her elbows; the metal was thinner so the armor was flexible, but would be easy to pierce. Unlike Naruto, she'd left her wrists bare, so as not to interfere with her taijutsu. On her feet she still wore her blue ninja sandals.

After getting dressed, Hinata strapped on her two gladius, which she'd had Tenten make, and she began her trek to the training grounds.

"Hinata, hold a moment." She was stopped by her father. Hiashi Hyuga was a man of imposing stature. He stood at a towering 6'3, and his mastery over the Hyuga's traditional stoic and cold expression unnerved the vast majority of people, ninja or civilian. Currently he was dressed in traditional Hyuga robes.

Turning, Hinata addressed her father, "Good morning Father, is there something you need?"

"I was going to inquire as to where you seem to be off to so early in the morning, You seem to disappear for hours, only returning well after an acceptable hour, and no one, not even your own team, seems to know where you go. I'd like an explanation."

Hiashi had been one of the people who'd voted for Naruto's banishment. Not because he disliked the boy, but because he considered the blonde a distraction to his daughter. Contrary to popular belief, the Hyuga clan head didn't hate his oldest child; he simply wasn't able to be the father she needed. As the leader of Konoha's most prominent clan, Hiashi had an image he needed to uphold, and part of that image did not include 'loving father'. It was too much of a weakness. But that didn't mean he didn't love Hinata, he actually loved her very much, and only wanted to see her succeed.

So when Hinata began disappearing during the day Hiashi thought it was just to cry over the Uzumaki boy's banishment, but then, about a week and a half ago, Hinata had changed her usual conservative clothing to what he saw her in now. She'd also taken up swordsmanship; something unheard of in the Hyuga household. Something was going on, and Hiashi wanted to know what.

"I've been training Father. My battle with the traitorous Uchiha showed me that I have a lot of training to do if I wish to be taken seriously as a ninja, and not be a burden to those I hold close."

"And is there a reason you've decided to break Hyuga tradition, and take up swordsmanship?"

Hinata sent her father a curious stare as she replied, "Father, while it is true we of the Hyuga clan possess the greatest taijutsu in the Elemental Nations, you must realize that eventually someone will find a way around it and our Byakugan. We are already hindered by fighters who aren't close-range fighters, I'm just trying to even the playing field a little. Times change Father, and you can either adapt to the times...or be destroyed by them."

Hiashi was left mind-boggled by his once shy daughter's wise words. However, hundreds of years of Hyuga tradition couldn't just be thrown out the window, so the man decided the best thing to say was: "While you are correct in stating that times change, you are wrong in that we of the Hyuga clan must change with them. For hundreds of years our ways have survived and flourished; so why fix what's not broken?"

Giving her father a disapproving look, Hinata just shook her head, turned, and continued her journey to the training grounds. 'It is that exact line of thinking that will keep our clan from reaching its highest potential.'

xxxxxxxxxx

As she approached her regular practice field, Hinata took notice of a person already standing in it, seemingly waiting for someone. Upon reaching the edge of the clearing the Hyuga heiress saw that it was Shikamaru; although anyone who knew the lazy Nara would think the one in the field was an impostor.

Instead of his usual slouched demeanor, Shikamaru was standing with his back straight and his hands crossed behind his back. He still wore his usual attire consisting of: black cargo shorts, a mesh-armor shirt, an olive-green vest, and his chunin jacket. But now, on his hips, he had two blades sheathed. On his his left hip was a gladius, and on his right the pugio. He had also taken up swordsmanship.

Deciding to make herself known Hinata called out, "Good morning Shikamaru-san."

Hearing his name the descendant of Crassus turned to respond, "To you as well Hinata-san. Are you ready for practice?"

Soon after Naruto's banishment Hinata was approached by the Nara heir, who explained that the two of them needed to begin work on their own plans, so that when they met up with Naruto again, they'd have something to work off of. Hinata had her suspicions at first, but once Shikamaru divulged his family history to her and explained what Naruto and he had discussed, the young kunoichi was able to accept the shadow-user's help.

This started daily meet-up's between the two clan heirs, and after watching Hinata spar with a clone, evolved to include training. The two had begun spending so much time together, many of the village's citizens began to rumor that the two were dating.

The two young clan heirs ignored the rumors and continued meeting. Today they would practice, and then discuss possible political maneuvers that would aid Naruto in the future.

A sharp nod was Hinata's reply to her training partner's question. No more words were said as each combatant moved to their respective starting points and entered into fighting stances.

Hinata entered into her traditional Gentle-Fist: left leg out in front, right leg in back with the knee slightly bent and ready to push off, her left arm stretched out in front while her right was held at a ninety-degree angle at her side; both blades aimed towards her opponent.

Shikamaru, opting for just one gladius, was positioned in a slight crouch with his sword held at an angled defensive position. His left arm sat underneath the blade, ready to strike out or parry when needed.

The two would always begin their spars with sword-play before moving on to full on 'ninja spars'. Being made aware that Naruto had reintroduced jutsu into their future legion's arsenal, Shikamaru and Hinata had taken it upon themselves to learn as many as they thought would be useful...that they could actually perform.

Hinata, deciding to hold-off using her dojutsu for the time being, pushed off of her right foot and charged her opponent. Opting to try and catch Shikamaru off-guard, Hinata started with a feint jab to the Nara's face but then did a crouching-spin and aimed for his right leg. Shikamaru stepped over the swipe and plunged his own gladius down towards the Hyuga heiress, and the open patch of flesh where her neck met her shoulder.

But the young kunoichi had anticipated this, and brought her swords up in an X-block, but, remembering Naruto's lesson of getting into a stalemate with a physically stronger opponent, Hinata quickly redirected her opponent's sword and rolled off to the side.

Shikamaru, knowing how dangerous it was to give Hinata time to reset, immediately went after her. As she finished her roll, the Nara heir attacked with a windmill-slash. When his sparring partner managed a clumsy parry, Shikamaru thought he had her, but then she retaliated with a jab to his left knee.

Not expecting this, Shikamaru's response was a hasty twist-away. While managing to avoid having the gladius go straight through his knee, the young shadow-user couldn't escape the shoulder that slammed into his chest as Hinata sprang up from the ground. However, Shikamaru wasn't so unprepared that he wasn't able to parry the jab that followed.

Hinata hadn't expected that maneuver, and was left open to the left-hook that sent her reeling back. But, using the momentum, she responded with a roundhouse-kick that sent Shikamaru flying back, and landing with a loud 'Oomph' after hitting the ground.

Deciding she wanted to begin working on the next phase of their training, Hinata leaped into the air, and came down with one blade stabbed into the ground next to Shikamaru's head, and the other at his throat.

"I guess this means you want to jump forward?"

Hinata nodded, "Yes, if you don't mind. We spent the majority of yesterday morning on sword-play, and I'd like to spend that time on our shinobi skills."

Shikamaru let his training partner pull him up and then replied, "Alright, I don't mind, but we should get back on the time-table tomorrow so we can work evenly on both." With that both combatants returned to their starting positions; each sheathing their swords.

While the Hyuga heiress merely returned to her Gentle-Fist stance, Shikamaru's was slightly different. The young shadow-user pulled a kunai from his thigh-holster and held it in front of himself in a reverse-grip. His left hand was turned, palm facing the opponent, and his fingers in a claw-like shape; his knees were once again bent, ready to move.

Hinata started them off, eager to begin. She rushed forward, but once she was in striking distance, the kunoichi spun on her right foot and aimed a palm-strike at her opponents back.

Shikamaru had anticipated that she'd do this, to try and catch him off-guard, and opted to jump and flip behind Hinata, taking hold of her hair along the way. As he came down, Hinata's head was forced to bend back, where her face was met by Shikamaru's elbow, effectively dropping her on her back.

However, the young heiress used this to her advantage, and performed a sweep-kick that caused her fellow clan heir to stumble. Hinata capitalized on this by springing forward once she'd finished, and attempting to elbow the young chunin in the chest. Attempted, because Shikamaru managed to get his bearings fast enough for him to pull off a substitution with a nearby log.

Hinata's eyes swept the surrounding area, and when they couldn't catch a glimpse of anything the bluenette activated her Byakugan, just in time to avoid the shadow that was streaking towards her. After avoiding the attack, Hinata retaliated by sending a wave of shuriken in the direction the shadow stretched from. This forced her opponent to give up his hiding spot and return to the open field.

The two ninja stared each other down for a moment before Hinata began weaving through hand-signs. Ending on Monkey, she pointed her index-finger at Shikamaru and yelled: {Kaminari Dangan}. A decent-sized ball of crackling electricity raced through the air towards its target. However it was blocked, by a wall of black. Using the wall's view-blocking property to her advantage, Hinata summoned a Shadow-Clone and then two normal clones. Next she had them all stand in a line behind her, where they waited for the wall to drop.

Once he let his {Kage no Kabe} drop, Shikamaru was met by the sight of four Hinata's standing in a line. With the sun's position in the sky, the girl's shadow was facing behind her, so the young Nara was unable to tell which ones were just illusions. 'Clever Hinata, very clever.' Deciding to let them come to him, Shikamaru got back into his defensive stance, and waited.

Seeing that her sparring partner wasn't going to make the first move, Hinata smirked from her place in the front of the line, and began to charge forward.

xxxxxxxxxx

The two young heirs were walking through the streets of their village, ignoring the looks of other citizens, and making their way to the Ichiraku ramen shop. They'd decided that the best place to convene was somewhere they could speak about Naruto, and not run the risk of anyone they didn't want attempting to eavesdrop on their conversations.

As the two sat down, the two chefs, Ayame and her father Teuchi, began preparing the pair's usual meals. While they waited, Hinata turned to her pseudo-friend and began speaking.

"You did well in our spar today Shikamaru-san, I see you've mastered your Shadow Wall jutsu to the point you no longer require hand-signs."

"Thank you, and yes, I have. I realized that a defensive jutsu was no good if it couldn't be called on immediately. Your Lightning Ball has gotten bigger, but you've managed to make it so that increase hasn't effected its speed, congratulations."

Before they could continue, their drinks were set in front of them; green-tea for Hinata, water for Shikamaru. With a quick 'thank you' they both took sips of their drinks before returning to conversation.

"So did you have time to think on my proposal from yesterday?" Shikamaru asked.

Hinata looked over to her fellow ninja and replied, "You mean about informing Temari-san about Naruto-kun's plan next time she makes a visit to the Leaf?" A nod was her answer.

"-sigh- Yes, I've thought about it. And while I don't like the thought of another girl being in his life, I understand that Naruto-kun will want her, and Suna by extension, on board as soon as possible. He most likely didn't tell her, or Gaara, out of fear that their sensei would disapprove."

By this time their food had arrived and was set in front of them. However, before Hinata could begin eating, Ino walked into the stand and addressed her.

"Hey, Hinata, I thought I told you yesterday that I wanted you at my house early; why didn't you ever show up!?"

Hinata just let out an annoyed huff before responding, "I didn't show up today, or yesterday, or any of the other days, because I don't see the need to. It won't help me regain favor with Naruto-kun, so I see no reason I should let you torment me."

Ino looked shocked as she bellowed out, "B-But the Master said you were beneath me now, a-and you had to do what I said. H-How do you think he'll react when he finds out you disobeyed a direct order!?"

Looking over to her "superior" with a bored look on her face, Hinata responded, "Ino, I don't see the Master anywhere do you? As far as I'm concerned, Naruto-kun won't ever find out I didn't follow that order; because no one's going to tell him." Her bored tone took on a sharp edge near the end, an edge that made Ino shiver.

"W-Well then what will you tell him when we see him again?"

"I'm going to tell him, as well as show him, how much I've improved since we've been apart. And then, once I've proven myself worthy again, Master will grace me again with favor and return me to my place as his top women."

Ino stood there, silent, as Hinata returned to her meal. Silence reigned over the ramen stand for a few minutes before the platinum blonde found her voice again.

"H-How do you plan on doing that?"

Although she heard the question, Hinata continued to eat her lunch. The Hyuga heiress had anticipated this; Ino would want to try and keep up with her. She ate quietly for a few more minutes, until she finally finished her meal, and then decided to answer her fellow kunoichi's question.

"Doing what?"

Ino could feel her temples throb in aggravation, "Proving yourself; how do you plan on doing it?"

"Oh," Hinata replied, as if she'd suddenly remembered, "that. Well, the obvious, and first thing to do, will be for me to train. When I see the Master again I want to be useful to his cause; not just some tag-along slave." At the word "slave", Hinata sent a knowing look towards the platinum-blonde.

"W-Why are you looking at me like that!?" The Yamanaka heiress squawked. "I'm useful, and I am not just some tag-along slave!"

Shikamaru, who had been silent throughout the cat-fight, decided to re-assert his presence, "Ino, I hate to have to be the one to tell you this, but your worth right now lies solely in your station of heiress. If it weren't for that single detail, Naruto would want nothing to do with you as you are now; you have no other useful qualities."

"What do you mean Shika? What about my clan's techniques, I'm sure the Master can put those to use, and my skills as a fighter; I-I could fight beside him during his conquest."

The shadow-user sighed regrettably before responding, "Your clan techniques could come in handy, but only if used by a master; like your father. And as for your skills? Ino the last battle Naruto saw you in was during the preliminary round of the chunin exams...against Sakura...and you didn't even win."

Her team-mate's words pulled apart Ino's resolve piece by piece, until she was left with her head hanging and her shoulders slumped.

Seeing his childhood friend in such a state pained the Nara heir; he hadn't been trying to hurt her feelings. But, surprisingly, it was Hinata that pulled Ino from the darkness.

"Ino, while I understand these things may be hard for you to hear, they are the truth. However, it isn't written in stone; you can get better. Look at me, remember how I use to be back at the academy, and even after we graduated? I was a weak, spineless coward. Sure I had my moments where I was fierce, but it wasn't enough; and then Naruto-kun began to notice me. Once that happened, I realized I needed to do something to keep his attention...so I worked on getting stronger."

The platinum-blonde kunoichi listened with rapt attention as Hinata explained her personal journey. As the girl spoke Ino could feel her heart begin to speed up, as feelings of hope began to fill her. "H-Hinata, will you...what I mean is...would you consider helping me get stronger?"

Hinata looked her fellow kunoichi in the eye for what seemed like hours before quietly saying, "Yes, Ino, I will help you."

xxxxxxxxxx

While this was going on, Tsunade was in her office, standing by the window and looking over the village below. But she wasn't alone. Standing in front of her desk was her fellow Sannin Jiraiya. In his hands he held a thick manila folder, its contents being the intelligence the white-haired man's spy network had gathered.

"Are you sure their information is accurate?" The pig-tailed blonde already knew the answer, but part of her hoped she had heard wrong.

Jiraiya sighed in exasperation at his former teammate's question, not that he hadn't been expecting it. "For the third time Tsunade, yes, my spies found ruins that matched the ruins of Uzu in Wave country. After hours of searching, they discovered a fairly large temple with a Latin inscription that translated to: Long Live Caesar. Upon entering the temple my spies were met with a giant statue of a man that, they say, resembled Naruto as an adult." At this point Jiraiya pulled out a small stack of photos from the folder and laid them on the table. "When they went further inside they found most of the rooms were bed chambers, but, one room held a set of armor that resembled what the statue was wearing. However, once they reached the back room...it was completely empty; nothing but a table, chair, and an empty bookcase."

Tsunade pondered over the information again. As a Senju, she was blood related to the Uzumaki clan, and as such she knew of their origins; she knew about Rome. While the pig-tailed blonde held a sense of pride in her ancestry, Tsunade didn't let it consume her like she knew so many Uzumaki and other Senju to have done; all of whom were now dead. But, if Naruto had discovered his heritage, then there was a possibility that that was what had caused his sudden change.

The blonde Hokage had learned about Naruto's harsh childhood, and understood the possible damage it could have done to the boy's sense of self-worth. So now, with the knowledge of what was found in Wave, Tsunade was beginning to think that her favorite knucklehead was looking for a way to prove he wasn't just a clan-less orphan. 'Ironic, considering who his father was.'

Tsunade turned to look at her fellow Sannin and began to speak, "Jiraiya, I want you to send a small squad of men out to find and make contact with Naruto. Have them relay the message that I know about Wave...and I'm willing to help with anything he has planned."

"...I can't do that Tsunade."

The buxom blonde hadn't been expecting that. Normally, when she needed something from her former team-mate he was too eager to oblige, and yet here he was; refusing her.

"W-What do you mean 'no'?"

"I mean exactly that, Tsunade. I can't send men to Naruto because I don't agree with what he may do with the information he has. The kid messed up, and unfortunately he now has to wait until a new council has been formed before he can be allowed to return home. I don't like it, but it's really all we can do."

Tsunade's hazel eyes narrowed in aggravation, before she growled, "The only thing we can do? No it's not, because I just gave you a perfectly fine option just a minute ago, but for some reason you won't take it! What do you honestly think Naruto is going to do with the information he's gotten from Wave? You make it sound as if he's going to become the next Orochimaru!"

"And what if he does?! Listen, Tsunade-hime, I know you care for the kid, but you have to think of the possibility that he isn't the same Naruto that came to you at Tanzaku town; he may be a completely different person."

The female Sannin didn't say anything, she simply stood there and let her mind work over her white-haired friend's words. What if he was right? What if Naruto was turning into a monster bent on destroying the very place that turned him into one? But then...what if he wasn't?

"Get out."

It came out so low, Jiraiya almost didn't hear it. "What?"

Tsunade, who'd had her head down, looked up and sent a seething glare at the Toad-Sannin, "I said get out! You're wrong about Naruto, and I won't let you stand in my office and bad mouth him anymore! That kid was the only person who managed to pull me out of hell-hole that I'd fallen into after Dan and Nawaki's deaths, and is the only reason I decided to take up the position of Hokage. So, until you decide to change your opinion of him, our relationship will be strictly professional, and I don't want to see you unless its business related. Understand!"

Jiraiya looked at his enraged not-so-secret love with a look of pure shock. That look soon turned to a stone-faced facade as he crossed his arms over his chest and spoke, "Very well Hokage-sama, this lowly servant bends to your will. If it's alright with you, I'd like to take me leave now. I feel as though I've overstayed my welcome."

With a wave of her hand the Slug-Queen dismissed her former team-mate, and in a 'poof' of smoke Jiraiya was gone.

After being sure he had left, Tsunade ordered her personal ANBU detail to leave her for a few moments, as she had a personal matter to attend to.

Once she was alone Tsunade sat back in her chair and brought her thumb up to her mouth. Biting, and drawing blood, she proceeded to summon one of her slugs to the top of her desk.

As the smoke cleared, the blonde Hokage was greeted by the sight of a small slug. The summon was about six inches in length, was a bright yellow color, and had a purple stripe running across its back.

The slug turned towards its summoner, and in a quiet, female voice greeted Tsunade, "Hello Lady Tsunade, my name is Kiiro no Suragu. How may I be of assistance?"

"Hello Kiiro, it's nice to meet you." As she spoke, Tsunade produced a piece of paper and a pen, and began to write a letter. "If you could, would you mind taking this letter to Mt. Myoboku? And, when you get there, give it to Gamakichi and tell him to deliver it to Naruto please?"

Finishing the letter, the pig-tailed blonde began to hand it to the slug, but stopped, "Oh, one more thing, tell the toads not to inform Jiraiya of your arrival; this is something personal."

With an affirmative nod, Kiiro took hold of the letter and, with another poof of smoke, returned to the summons realm.

Once the deed was done Tsunade leaned back in her chair, elbows on the arm rests, and fingers folded in front of her mouth, as she thought, 'I don't care what anybody says, I won't just abandon Naruto, I'll do whatever I can to help him.'

xxxxxxxxxx

It had been about two months since Naruto's banishment, and things continued on in a regular cycle.

Hours of the day came and went, until finally the sky was colored a brilliant, fiery orange. It was a warm evening in the village of Konoha; an evening being taken advantage of by a single academy student.

A young Konohamaru could be found at the academy training field, wooden bokken in hand, practicing against a training post.

Almost immediately after his teacher's banishment Konohamaru went and searched for anyone who would make him a special set of bokken resembling the weapons he'd seen Naruto carry around. The day his blonde "big brother" was cast from the village the young academy student had made a promise; to be ready to join his boss the next time they met.

Realizing that he couldn't just swing his sword around and hope he got better, Konohamaru made frequent trips to the library in search of kenjutsu scrolls. And while the more advanced forms were off-limits to non-graduates and civilians, the young Sarutobi didn't let that deter him, and he made sure to study each and every scroll he could get his hands on; he wanted to make sure he would be ready.

However this devotion came at a price; he no longer had time for his friends Moegi and Udon. Where they used to be found joined at the hip, now the three only saw and spoke to each other during school hours. Konohamaru had invited them to train with him, but it soon became apparent that they didn't have the same drive that he did, and since then they had begun drifting apart.

But where Konohamaru's dedication lost him his two closest friends, it gained him a shadow.

Behind the sliding-door that lead out to the academy field, Hanabi Hyuga could be found peeking around the corner, and watching Konohamaru Sarutobi.

She'd started watching him about a month after the Uzumaki boy's banishment; because that was around the same time that Konohamaru became the rumored candidate for top of the class in terms of practical skill.

While the young boy wasn't so far down the ladder in terms of class placement in any terms, for him to go from average to top of the class in just a month was unusual. And Hanabi couldn't help but be curious.

As the favored to become the next clan head for the Hyuga's, Hanabi wasn't required to go to the regular ninja academy until her final year, but the young girl had asked her father for the chance to showcase the Hyuga clan's strength, and he'd agreed.

It hadn't taken her long to pull ahead of everyone else in the class, but, in her mind, that was just natural; as she was a Hyuga.

Hanabi had picked up her father's ideology that the Hyuga clan was superior to the other clans in Konoha, and especially the civilian population. So it came as a surprise that she was later beaten by the very boy she was watching. It was also the main reason she was watching him now.

The day had started off like most other days at the academy: Hanabi would answer many of the instructor's questions correctly, earning her the ire of her classmates, and then they would be taken outside to practice their practical skills. Now, usually Konohamaru, while a challenge, never managed to defeat Hanabi, but that day, he did.

It had happened so unexpectedly. The two had traded blows for several minutes until, finally, Hanabi saw an opening; but this turned out to be a trap. The moment she pressed her advantage, Konohamaru retaliated by taking a hold of her wrist, twisting it behind her back, and then wrapping his other arm around her throat. Whenever she would try and struggle, the young Sarutobi would squeeze down on her windpipe, until finally Iruka declared Konohamaru as the victor.

Hanabi had been furious after that. How could she have lost!? The youngest Hyuga heiress then made a silent promise to herself; she would discover what it was that allowed the boy to beat her.

So that evening, and all the ones following, the young girl followed her classmate as he performed his usual routine. She found that the class clown she'd grown accustomed to was no longer the Konohamaru she was following. This new Konohamaru was quieter, and had a different look in his eye; this Konohamaru was worth her attention.

As he finished up another attack combination Konohamaru took a step back and let himself start to relax. He'd been at it for four hours, moving from physical conditioning to sword-play. His body was sore all over, but weeks of constant activity turned what was once screaming pain, into dull aches and throbs.

Once he'd regained some of his breath, the young academy student decided he'd call it a day. So, slipping his bokken/gladius and pugio into their makeshift holsters, Konohamaru turned and began walking away from the field, towards the sliding door leading to the Academy. While normally he would just walk around the building, it was exceptionally hot out that evening, and the young boy wanted to spend some time in the air-conditioned school building.

Half-way to the door Konohamaru heard a noise that sounded like a gasp, followed by the patter of retreating footsteps. 'Hanabi must have been following me...again.'

Unlike his 'big brother', Konohamaru had caught on to his personal Hyuga stalker, but had decided that since she wasn't getting in his way, he'd leave her be. Besides, having an audience only made him want to push himself harder when he trained.

xxxxxxxxxx

Ino Yamanaka was exhausted. So much so, that the platinum-blonde didn't think she had the strength to get up off the ground she'd just been slammed into.

Two months after she'd taken up Hinata's offer of help and she still couldn't land a decent blow on the Hyuga heiress. After weeks of conditioning, eating properly, and sparring, and the gap between them had hardly closed as all!

"Get up Ino, didn't you tell me that you wanted to be useful? That you wanted to be more than just a sex toy for the Master?" The voice of Ino's fellow "sister" snapped the girl out of her pity party.

Hinata looked over at the girl that was laying spread-eagle on the ground of the training field. They'd been training for about two hours, and Ino had yet to impress her.

When the Yamanaka heiress finally stood up, Hinata decided that, if Ino didn't show any progress in this next round, she could forget being trained. 'I can't slow down my own training, just so Ino can catch up.'

The Hyuga heiress entered back into her Gentle-Fist stance and waited; she wasn't forced to wait long.

Ino started off the round with a barrage of kunai, but she didn't stop there. Almost immediately after launching her weapons, the platinum-blonde leaped into the air, and performed a set of hand-signs. However Hinata didn't jump to avoid the kunai like Ino thought she would, instead she used a substitution. Still in the air, Ino searched for her opponent; never expecting what came next.

"{Raiottojaberin}!"

Ino looked up when she heard the jutsu, and was met, for an instant, with the sight of Hinata coming down on her with her right fist engulfed in a blazing flame. Thinking fast, Ino used her acrobatic skills to perform a flip-kick which caught the Hyuga heiress in the cheek. As Hinata was sent flying, gravity began to take its effect on Ino, and brought her back down to the training field.

Once her feet touched the ground Ino looked over to the downed Hyuga heiress, who was currently picking herself up off the ground. Although pleased with herself for landing that kick, the blue-eyed kunoichi understood that it was only because Hinata called out her attack, that Ino had avoided it.

Deciding to take the initiative again, Ino went through her previous hand-signs, and called out her attack: "{Chikyu Datsu}!" The ground in front of her bulged in several spots, and then cones of earth erupted from the ground and sailed towards Hinata's position.

But after they'd reached about half way though, the Hinata in the clearing poofed into smoke, leaving the earth darts to crash into the tree-wall.

Ino looked around, this time being sure to look up too, but could find no sign of Hinata. Then, for a brief moment, she felt the earth beneath her feet tremble. But that was all the warning she needed, and the blonde leaped to the side. As she landed Ino looked to her previous position and, sure enough, Hinata's hands were coming up out of the ground. She'd used the Head-hunter jutsu.

'But her affinities are lightning and water, which means the Head-hunter jutsu took a greater amount of chakra to perform. That, added to her use of her one Shadow-Clone, means she's probably exhausted most of her chakra. I might be able to win!'

With renewed hope, Ino pulled a kunai from her holster, attached an explosive note to it, and waited for Hinata to resurface. Once she did, Ino charged forward, intent on finishing their match.

When Hinata removed herself from underground she hadn't really been expecting Ino to attack her head on. But this didn't surprise her so much that she wasn't able to put up a defense. Once the blonde kunoichi was within striking distance, Hinata ducked under her kunai swipe, and countered with an upward palm-thrust. The blow hit its mark, Ino's chin, but when Hinata tried to continue her assault she was stopped when her opponent allowed herself to flip backwards, plant her hands on the ground, and perform a kick that sent Hinata stumbling back.

After recovering from the chin strike, Ino charged the explosive note with chakra, and threw it down at Hinata's feet. Leaping back, the Yamanaka heiress only had to wait a moment before the paper bomb exploded; the resulting explosion catapulting its target all the way back to the tree-line.

Hinata hadn't expected Ino to perform such a kick; it seemed beyond her skill-level. And yet she'd done it. Then, a few seconds later, the bluenette found herself rocketed through the air due to the explosion of a paper bomb until, finally, she slammed into the trunk of a tree. After falling forward, and catching herself with her hands and knees, Hinata took a moment to clear the haziness from her vision.

'That last round I underestimated Ino, I figured she wasn't cut out to be a fighter, and it's because of that foolish mentality that I'm in the position I'm in. With the use of my Shadow-Clone, and that earth-style jutsu I picked up from the Uchiha, I don't have much chakra left to perform ninjutsu... kenjutsu it is then.'

After making sure she would only be sore in the morning, Hinata stood up and drew her custom bokken. Entering into her opening stance, Hinata channeled her chakra, and soon the edges of the practice-swords were lined with chakra.

Figuring that Ino had started them off more than enough, Hinata decided to take the initiative this time. She sprinted forward in an impressive display of speed, almost to the point of vanishing, and re-appeared, crouched, by Ino's left side.

At first, Ino thought practice was over, until she saw her opponent get up and then draw her practice swords. 'Uh-oh'. The platinum-blonde knew how dangerous Hinata could be with those bokken; the girl had described what she'd done to Sasuke. And now, Ino was going to be on the receiving end of them.

When Hinata seemed to just disappear, Ino began to feel scared. She had no idea the Hyuga heiress had gotten so fast! And then, when she appeared at Ino's side, the blue-eyed girl just barely managed to avoid the sweep-slash that was aimed at her leg.

But this threw her off balance, and vulnerable to the stab that followed with Hinata's left sword aimed at her abdomen. Again, the girl barely managed to avoid any major damage, but she now sported a nice sized cut along her side. Ino was then forced to step back as Hinata followed up with a rising, vertical swipe with her right sword...but her bandages falling off let the blonde know just how close the call really was.

Deciding she needed a better way to defend herself, Ino reached into her thigh holster and went to pull out a kunai, only to find that she'd thrown them all. While ducking under another stab, this time aimed for her shoulder, Ino looked around the field for one of her discarded weapons. Just as she was forced to use her right forearm to sloppily parry a horizontal swipe at her face, the platinum-blonde caught a glimpse of one of her kunai lodged in the ground.

But she didn't get the chance to dive for it.

Hinata had noticed her opponent's wandering eyes, and had activated her Byakugan to see what Ino was searching for. It took mere seconds for her to realize that the blonde was trying to find a kunai. 'Well, that can't be allowed.'

After her attack was parried, Hinata went along with the momentum, and brought her arm back around and connected with Ino's chin. The Yamanaka heiress flew into the air, and then came back down to earth about fifteen feet from Hinata's position.

Ino found herself in a familiar position; 7on her back, with a rivulet of blood dripping from the side of her mouth. Only this time, she wasn't getting back up on her own. She heard the sound of footsteps and knew that Hinata was coming to evaluate her final performance.

It only took a few seconds for the young Hyuga to come into view, and when she did, Ino feared she had failed from the stony facade Hinata wore.

"S-So how did I do?"

Hinata just stood there a moment, not saying anything, before a ghost of a smile made its way onto her lips, "Ino, you've proven that there is potential in you, and that I may be able to turn you into something useful."

The blonde kunoichi let out a huge breath she'd been holding before replying, "Thank you Hinata, I hope I can continue to prove myself." With the exchanging of nods of respect, Hinata turned and began walking away.

"H-Hey, wait, where are you going!?"

The young girl didn't even turn around as she replied, "I have a meeting with Lady Tsunade in about an hour, and I can't show up looking like this if I want to talk her into training me." With that Hinata was about to start walking again, until Ino stopped her again.

"But what about me!?" The platinum-blonde squawked.

Hinata just laughed, and as she exited the training field she training field she threw back, "What about you?" Ino was left lying in the dirt for hours before she finally managed to pick herself up.

xxxxxxxxxx

Sasuke Uchiha stood in the middle of one of his compound's training dojos. Across from him stood the ever lax form of his former sensei, Kakashi Hatake. After his release from the hospital, after a month of care, the Uchiha searched out Naruto to have a rematch...but he couldn't find any sign of the blonde.

After searching for hours Sasuke finally went to the Hokage's office to demand the whereabouts of his rival; the answer he received was shocking. Naruto had been banished.

When he asked why, Sasuke hadn't expected his question to be answered by him being lifted off the ground, putting him eye to eye with a teary Hokage. Once Tsunade explained the reason for the Uzumaki's expulsion, Sasuke made it a point to have a meeting with Danzo Shimura, and once again make a demand; the lifting of Naruto's punishment.

However things didn't work out like the raven-haired youth had planned. Danzo laughed in his face and told Sasuke that, by now, Naruto was probably already dead and that now, no one would be able to use 'it' against Konoha. While Sasuke was curious to learn about what 'it' was, he decided that, if Naruto was indeed dead, then someone had to fulfill the knucklehead's dream of becoming Hokage. Someone like him.

While he may have tried to abandon the village, Sasuke still considered Naruto his best, and only, friend. Something that he'd never told anybody was, after receiving Orochimaru's curse-mark, the young Uchiha had begun to hear a voice in his head. This voice was constant, and hadn't allowed the boy to get any real amount of sleep; like that kid from the Sand Village.

The voice started out as a whisper, something he was mostly able to ignore, but after his confrontation with Itachi the voice had become a loud, oily constant. It would tell him that the only way to defeat his brother was to give in to the hate and allow the curse-mark to give him power. This only worsened after his defeat at the hands of Naruto. And when he sat atop that roof, Sasuke had been trying to close off the voice, and he'd almost succeeded...until the Sound Four arrived.

After the taunts and the disrespect they threw at him, Sasuke felt he had no other option than to fight them; to prove that he was still the strongest. When his own power failed, Sasuke allowed his anger, and his desire to restore the Uchiha name to cloud his judgment... and he activated the curse-mark.

When that didn't work, and he was again defeated, Sasuke felt that, if training from Kakashi couldn't give him the strength he needed, then maybe training from a Sannin would. And he decided to abandon the village.

He hadn't actually wanted to harm Hinata when he ran into her, but, after hearing her comment about his strength in comparison to Naruto's, he snapped. Then he met up with the Sound Four again... and it was all a blur after that.

After coming to terms with everything that had happened, Sasuke decided that the best thing that he could do at that moment was to train; at least until he got the chance to talk to Naruto again.

So here he stood, dressed in the same black outfit he'd worn during the chunin exams, about to spar with his former sensei. Deciding to start things off, Sasuke rushed Kakashi.

Sasuke began his attack with a roundhouse-kick. When the former ANBU captain blocked his attack, the young Uchiha pushed off his other foot, and attempted to land a kick to the side of Kakashi's head. The Jounin took hold of both of Sasuke's ankles, and whipped him around before tossing the young genin away. After throwing his former student Kakashi followed, and buried his knee into Sasuke's gut, sending the boy sprawling onto the dojo floor.

As he laid on the ground Sasuke tried his best to devise an attack strategy that could give him the upper hand. The one he came up with, while not guaranteed, was his best shot at the moment. So, lifting himself onto all fours, and then back onto his feet, the raven-haired youth turned to face his sparring partner... only to find the man missing.

Only because of his harsh training was Sasuke able to catch the faint sound of air being cut, and have time to duck under the chop aimed at his neck. As he ducked, Sasuke threw his elbow back in hopes of catching the older man in the stomach. When that didn't work, and Kakashi's own elbow was coming around for a spin hit, the Uchiha boy stopped the elbow with his right hand, shoved the arm up, and tried to deliver a blow to the Jounin's ribs. This failed when Kakashi brought his elbow back down, and dealt a swift blow to the top of Sasuke's head, sending the boy crumpling to the ground.

"You're not focusing Sasuke. Your mind is hopping from one attack plan to the next; you'll never get anywhere like that. A ninja must be swift, and decisive, that means selecting a plan and being able to alter it on the spot; not thinking about all the different things that could go wrong with your choice."

By this time Sasuke had managed to haul himself back to his feet and respond to his teacher, "I know that already it's just... my mind won't slow down. My brain keeps thinking 'what would Naruto do'. He... he beat me, twice, and I just feel that if I could think like him during battle, then I'd never lose the advantage."

"Sasuke," Kakashi pinched the bridge of his nose, "you can't think like that. Naruto's way of fighting only works for him. There's nothing wrong with the way you've been fighting up until now, you just need to get stronger. And I promise you, you will get stronger if you just listen to me."

The Uchiha took all of his former sensei's words in, his eyes turned to the ground, showing that he was in deep thought.

Moments later, Sasuke lifted his head up, his Sharingan blazing and a hint of his old fire alight in their depths.

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"So Naruto wasn't kidding, you really do want me to train you?" Tsunade could see from the look in the girl's eyes that this was a serious request.

After finishing with Ino, Hinata had returned home to clean up, and then made a bee-line for the Hokage's Tower to speak with Tsunade. It was another part of her plan to improve herself. Once she was allowed in, the Hyuga heiress didn't even offer any small talk; she immediately asked for training.

"Yes, I have perfect chakra control so I'd be the best candidate to learn your enhanced strength technique, and I also have an adept understand of health/medicine that would benefit greatly from learning what you know..." Hinata folded her hands in her lap and bowed at the waist, "so please, accept me as your next apprentice."

Tsunade stared down at the bowing kunoichi, her hazel eyes narrowed in thought. She'd originally planned to make Sakura her apprentice, she too had perfect chakra control, but here Hinata was taking the initiative and coming to her. There was also her earlier decision to help Naruto however she could, and if the blonde Uzumaki thought the Hyuga heiress deserved the training, why not give it to her?

"Alright Hinata, I've decided-" The pig-tailed blonde didn't get to finish, the door to her office opening interrupted her train of thought. When both kunoichi turned to look at who had entered the room, both were shocked to find that the newest occupant was Sakura.

The pink-haired girl stood awkwardly at the entrance of the room. Her right hand was brought up and holding her left arm, and her emerald-green eyes were shifting around the room, not looking directly at either of the other females in the room.

"Sakura," Tsunade greeted, "what can I do for you?"

Sakura, eyes still refusing to address her Hokage, replied, "Good evening Lady Tsunade. I-I'm sorry if I interrupted something, but, I just had something important I wanted to discuss with you."

While Hinata looked on with suspicion in her eyes, Tsunade held a look of curiosity. "No, it's alright Sakura, Hinata just came by to ask if I would be willing to accept her as my new apprentice." A pair of green eyes immediately looked over to the Hyuga girl, before shooting to the buxom blonde.

"H-Hokage-sama, t-that's why I've come to you today."

Hinata's eyes practically smoldered with annoyance as she looked to her former 'rival'. What made that girl think she was worthy of being trained by Lady Tsunade? She may have perfect chakra control, something the pink-haired girl boasted about in the academy, but that was only because her chakra levels were so low! Sakura, from what Naruto had told her, had done nothing to improve herself during the time she was on Team Seven, and it showed during the chunin exams when she couldn't even beat Ino! Hinata truly didn't believe that the Haruno girl deserved anything other than being sent back to the academy for remedial classes.

Tsunade, on the other hand, saw an opportunity for Hinata to become an even greater kunoichi. She'd noticed the way her new apprentice looked at Sakura, she could tell how much the pink-haired girl's request irked the young heiress, and had immediately decided on what to do. 'You'll thank me for this later, Hinata'.

"Well now, this puts me between a rock and a hard place, because while I was originally going to call you in here Sakura. Hinata beat you to it, and she shows so much potential. However, seeing as you were only minutes behind your fellow kunoichi, I think it'd be unfair to not give you a fair shot. We are going to have a competition."

Both young girls first looked, wide-eyed, at their Hokage, before turning and giving each other a look; Sakura's eyes held anger, while Hinata's just held condescending confidence.

"The first part of the competition," the female Hokage's voice drew the younger girl's attention back to the matter at hand, "is this: you will both tell me what your reason is for asking me to train you. You will each have a turn, and once you are finished speaking you will not interrupt the others explanation; Sakura you can go first."

Sakura was startled, having expected to be given more time to prepare, but managed to find her voice, "Hokage-sama, I've come to you today, asking for training because I... I don't want to be useless anymore." At this the pink-haired girl turned her head down in shame. "During my time with Team Seven I realized that, for all my book smarts and high grades, I was a terrible ninja; I was a disgrace to the title of kunoichi. I'm asking you, Lady-Tsunade, to give me the chance to prove that I have what it takes to hold the title of 'ninja', that I deserve this headband."

Sakura finished her piece and looked up to gauge the responses of the other two in the room. She noticed that Hinata now had her arms crossed in front of her chest, and this action made Sakura finally take in the drastic change in the Hyuga's look. Sakura hadn't seen Hinata since she'd been released from the hospital, never actually bothering to visit, and so hadn't seen the drastic change in her fellow ninja. But now, taking in the lack of the heiress' large coat, the pink-haired girl could now take in the sight of Hinata's athletic body; toned from years of training, and now hardened after months of her beginning Legionary training. It also allowed her to see that Hinata was an early bloomer, and that her chest was significantly more pronounced than hers, and even Ino's; who Sakura originally thought had the largest bust of any girl in their class. But something else caught Sakura's attention.

She noticed the armor now covering the girl's arms and legs, as well as the two wooden swords she now had strapped to her hips. But before she could inquire the reason for the new look, Tsunade's voice flowed into the air.

Tsunade had seen that Sakura had gotten caught up in her fellow kunoichi's new look, and sighed mentally at how little the girl seemed to pay attention to her surroundings. The girl's speech also left much to be desired. You didn't need special training to be an effective ninja. In fact, those who received the training were the ones who had become the best with what they already had to work with, and then the mentor would take notice and accept them. Figuring it was time to let Hinata speak, Tsunade spoke up.

"Alright Sakura, thank you for that. Now Hinata, I'd like to hear what your reason is for seeking me out."

Hinata turned away from Sakura, and looked directly into Tsunade's eyes as she spoke. "Tsunade-sama, I have come to ask you to train me so that I can better protect the one I love, and, even if you do not train me, I will still find a way to gain the strength I need. There is no other reason than this; you may think what you wish about my reason."

The Hyuga girl's response wasn't what the blonde Hokage had expected. Tsunade had expected the girl to give her a speech, much like Naruto would have done, but instead she receives a blunt, and to the point response.

"Alright, now that that's out of the way, I've decided that we will move on to the second phase of the competition." Sakura looked as if she wanted to say something, but Tsunade cut her off, "I will give my full evaluation, and make my decision after the competition; not a moment sooner."

Hinata readdressed her Hokage, "Lady Tsunade, what is the second phase of the competition?"

"I'm glad you asked Hinata. The next contest will be a duel between the two of you, so that I can get a better idea of what I'm working with here."

But Sakura thought that was strange, and decided to voice her opinion, "But, Tsunade-sama, wouldn't the match between the two of us be the final phase of the competition?"

A gleam passed through the female Sannin's eyes that Sakura didn't catch as she replied, "No Sakura, I have something much more interesting in mind for that. So, if you two could follow me, we'll head over to training ground seven and-"

"Excuse me, Hokage-sama, but I've just finished an intense sparring session with one of my fellow kunoichi and need time to rest. If it's alright with you, I'd like to postpone this match until tomorrow, when I'm better rested."

Tsunade looked over to the Hyuga who had spoken. While it would be fair to let the girl rest and regain her full strength, the buxom blonde decided to use this as another learning experience from both of the two genin.

"Unfortunately Hinata, I'm going to have to decline your request. It's not that I wish to be unfair, but I'd like to use this as a teaching moment. You see, there will be times where you aren't going to be one hundred percent out in the field, and your enemies won't just sit back and let you rest up, so this will be a lesson of learning how to work with what you have in an unfavorable situation." With that, the pig-tailed woman began to exit her office.

Hinata, seeing no other choice, and understanding the lesson, began to follow, with Sakura bringing up the rear. Neither of the two women in front noticed the dark look Sakura sent Hinata as she walked.

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By the time the three females arrived at the training ground, the sun had begun to go down, and the sky had lit up in a brilliant, fiery orange. Tsunade stood of on the edge of the training ground while instructing the two younger women to take their places on the field.

Hinata, deciding not to waste any energy, immediately drew her practice swords and entered into her opening stance. Sakura noticed, and became confused.

"Hinata, when did the Hyuga clan add kenjutsu to their list of skills?" She received no response, just a silent stare. Figuring it best to be prepared, Sakura drew a pair of kunai and held them in a reverse grip, cross guard.

Tsunade looked at both girls with a calculating eye, trying to predict how the match would play out before it even started. After a few minutes, deciding she'd kept them waiting long enough, the Sannin began to speak.

"Alright, the rules are simple. This match is anything goes, you do whatever you have to do to win. The match will end when one of you loses consciousness, is unable to continue, or gives up; there will obviously be no killing. Begin!"

At the sound of Tsunade beginning the battle Sakura rushed her opponent. After seeing Zabuza's skill with a sword during her first real mission, Sakura believed that Hinata couldn't be anywhere near that level after only a few months of training; and therefore, would be easy to wear out. Once in range of attacking, Sakura opened with a stab to the Hyuga's face, expecting a sloppy block she could work around.

Hinata, on the other hand, had seen the attack coming from back when Sakura had been halfway to her position. The girl had no subtlty, her body had already been shifted to compensate for the attack. Shaking her head in shame Hinata performed a swift parry before striking Sakura's face with a right hook. The Haruno girl was left sprawled out on the ground.

Tsunade looked on at the scene before her and let out a disheartened sigh. It seemed Sakura's skills were more deplorable than she'd feared. It seemed she'd have to rebuild the girl from the ground up. Hopefully she'd give Hinata enough of a challenge that the Hyuga heiress would showcase more of her skills.

Hinata looked down at her opponent. Sakura was trying to clear the cobwebs from her brain and was wiping the rivulet of blood away from her bottom lip. It was this sight that made the Hyuga drop her guard, and allowed Sakura to tackle her.

Sakura had noticed that Hinata had dropped her guard and decided to prove what an error that was. Like a snake she lunged forward, knocking the bluenette's legs out from under her, and landing with Hinata on her back and Sakura laying on top of her.

'What just happened?' Was the primary though running through Hinata's mind as she struggled to catch her breath; she'd been more winded than she thought. However she didn't have much time to take in oxygen, because soon she was forced to defend against a barrage of punches that rained down upon her. Fist after fist seemed to come down as Sakura took advantage of their current state, while Hinata held her arms up in an attempt to avoid any blows to the head.

Sakura was enjoying herself. She hadn't expected to be given such an opportunity, but now that it was here, she wasn't going to waste it. She had been appalled at the condition Sasuke had been returned in, she had asked Naruto to bring him back not mangle him, and felt a sense of resentment towards her former teammate. However, with his banishment, Sakura had no way of letting out that feeling...until now.

Unfortunately, the pink-haired girl was so caught-up in her sense of vengeance, that she didn't notice Hinata reach for one of the practice swords she'd dropped while being tackled; but she did feel when the pommel made contact with the side of her head.

After shoving the pink-haired girl off of her, Hinata sat up, and swiftly jumped away from her opponent. Re-entering her stance the young heiress waited for her opponent to reengage her.

The first thing Sakura did once she regained her senses was check to see if she was bleeding; thankfully, she wasn't. Immediately following this, she searched for her opponent, who she found waiting for her. And finally, Sakura stood up, readied herself again, and charged.

Hinata had anticipated another obvious attack, but made sure she was prepared for something new. This preparation paid off when Sakura started off with a feint, and attacked with a stab at her side. Hinata parried the attack, and countered with a horizontal slash at her head.

Sakura ducked under the attack, hooked her foot behind Hinata's, and shoved the girl back. Although she managed to catch herself, Hinata's stumble left an opening for Sakura, and she was soon forced to perform an awkward twist in order to avoid a nasty blow to her side. However that twist left the heiress off balance, and she soon stumbled over her own feet; landing roughly on her butt.

Breathing heavy, Hinata scrambled back to her feet in a crouch. Almost instantly, she was forced to avoid another attack. This time she did so through an impressive display of flexibility, arching backwards to avoid a punch to her face. Deciding to go on the offensive, Hinata planted her palms on the ground and, shifting her weight, lifted her legs up and landed a kick to Sakura's chin.

Landing back on her feet, Hinata rushed her stunned opponent, intent on finishing the fight. Calling on the small amount of chakra she had left for battle Hinata lined the edges of her practice-swords. After she was close enough, Hinata crouched and spun, ending up behind Sakura. Once there she attacked with a rising, vertical slash before going low and performing a three-sixty spin; slashing at the girl's calves. This made Sakura drop to her knees, where Hinata swiftly brought her swords up to her throat; signaling the end of the match.

Or so she thought.

With Hinata crouched behind her Sakura had the perfect angle to throw her head back and slam into the Hyuga girl's nose. The shock made Hinata drop her swords. Next, Sakura hooked her arms under Hinata's and lurched forward; landing on top of the bluenette. Bringing up her elbow Sakura introduced it to the downed girl's nose before flipping over and delivering another head butt to Hinata's forehead. Making sure to grab the heiress' wrists this time, Sakura went for the lights out approach; she wrapped her other hand around Hinata's throat and began to squeeze.

Hinata couldn't believe what had just happened! How could Sakura have gotten her into such a position?! Desperately fighting for air, the trapped Hyuga looked for a way out. But she was so tired, her practice session with Ino had been more difficult than she'd thought it'd be, and now she had almost no energy to fight with. She started bucking, hoping to throw Sakura off of her...and discovered a way out. Sakura, while not light enough to be tossed off, was light enough that she could be lifted. So, taking as big a breath as she could, Hinata planted her feet on the ground, pushed off, and rolled backwards.

Sakura didn't see it coming, and soon landed with her face in the dirt; her position forcing her to let go of Hinata's wrists. But it didn't end there. Now Hinata sat, straddling Sakura's mid-section. Taking a page out of Sakura's book she took hold of the pinkette's wrists, but she did it with both hands, and began to deliver a series of head butts to the Haruno girl's large forehead. Eventually, a loud crack echoed through the training ground, followed by a weak grunt. Sakura had passed out.

Tsunade looked on at the outcome of the match, eyes wide with shock. The female Sannin hadn't expected any of that from Sakura! The young girl had impressed Tsunade. 'But she was lucky too. If I'd allowed Hinata time to recover there's no doubt in my mind Sakura wouldn't have stood a chance.'

Walking over Tsunade's footsteps alerted the conscious Hyuga that the match was indeed over. When she looked up, Tsunade saw blood splattered on the girl's forehead; its dark crimson marring her alabaster skin. However it was the look in Hinata's eyes that caught the Sannin's attention.

Hinata's eyes held a raging fire inside them. It blazed with such intensity that Tsunade felt as if she'd burst into flames if she continued to stare into the girl's eyes.

'This is going to be interesting.'

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_A/N: And there it is. This chapter came out pretty short, but I'm planning to do a continuation next chapter; it'll be a two year time-skip. At the end of the next chapter I'm hoping to have certain characters run into Naruto at the end of the coming chapter, and then start on Naruto's personal journey._

To be honest, there wasn't much about this chapter that I felt very...hyped about, I guess. So, I hope you enjoyed this, and I look forward to reading your reviews.


	11. Manes praeteritum

Rise, Son Of Rome

Ch.11- **Manes praeteritum**

**(Ghosts of the past)**

Three years have passed since the banishment of Naruto Uzumaki. Over the course of that time, the village of Konoha has suffered major blows to its position as one of the five Great Nations. Within a year the Leaf's alliance with Wave was terminated; when asked why, the spokesman, Tazuna, said that "Our village doesn't feel comfortable doing business with a village that casts out its members without just cause." With that, Konoha's ability to export and import had been severally crippled.

Following that, during the second year, relations with Suna became tight, and eventually broke down during the third year. It started with the Council trying to keep up the marriage contract between the two villages by offering Temari someone else...that someone being Sasuke. However, while the fools of the Council may have been able to look past the deeds of their traitorous Uchiha, others outside the Council doors could not. Suna, and many other villages that heard about the attempted escape, were appalled by those men and woman's complete disregard for the boy's crimes. Gaara came to Konoha personally to decline the offer, and said that any loss of reputation do to Suna's part in the invasion was nothing like what would happen if they sided with a village that glorified traitors.

The third year, when Gaara became the Kazekage, Suna completely broke away from Konoha. This big move was swiftly followed by other villages that held Naruto in high regard; this included Spring Country. The loss of Spring hit Konoha majorly in terms of technological advancement. The two had come to an agreement that Konoha would be the first villages to receive prototypes of Springs newest weapons and medical tech., as well as naval warfare. That all came to a halt suddenly during that third year. Princess Koyuki sent a political envoy to Konoha with a television set, and she spoke to them via satellite transmission. When Tsunade asked why she chose now to pull away, instead of earlier, Koyuki responded with, "Spring Country has found a new political power we'd like to ally ourselves with, one who understands the value of its citizens and soldiers, and their stipulation is that we rescind our alliance with the Leaf." So with a few parting words, the television blacked out, and Tsunade was left speechless.

Tsunade watched as a major number of their alliances pulled out, and she was forced to watch as her village began to crumble in on itself. In an attempt to cool down the heat from Sasuke's betrayal Tsunade tried to hand out punishment for the boy's crimes...this didn't go over like she'd hoped. Out of all the different punishments she tried, the only thing she managed to push through was that the Uchiha be held back from doing missions for a year, a portion of his clan funds were handed out to the ninja of the village; with an even larger sum being paid to Hinata for the damages done to her. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to stunt his training like she'd hoped, but had succeeded in giving the boy a curfew that forced him into his home at 6pm. The Hyuga clan also used this time to take a shot at the Uchiha clan.

While Hiashi didn't care much for his eldest daughter's state of health, the power hungry leader thought he could use the attack as an attack directly against the Hyuga clan as a whole. With Hiashi being such a major public figure, no one in the council had the desire to challenge his claim; mostly because they would have done the same thing. As punishment for "attacking the Hyuga clan", Sasuke was forced to withdraw even more money from his clan treasury and hand it over to the Hyuga leader. Next, the boy was forced to publicly admit that the Hyuga clan was better than the Uchiha's, and that he was a fool for attempting to "wage war" with them.

Unfortunately, despite all of this, the damage had been done; many villages had pulled out of their alliance with Konoha, and the ones that stayed were weary. The village was now surrounded by enemies and neutral parties, with only a handful of small villages to lend aid.

To make matters worse, things inside the village were shaky as well. While the civilians still held animosity towards Naruto, and were happy to see him go, many in the ninja population had grown to respect and admire the blonde Uzumaki. This caused a rift between the two halves of the village, and it showed in the condition of Konoha as a whole. Many ninja refused to take local missions because of their distaste for the employer, deciding instead to stick to missions brought in from outside; which were scarce now. This caused the village itself to start to turn shabby.

When the village tried to network, and find more villages to receive missions from, they were surprised to find that the smaller settlements were doing well; some were even showing signs of increased prosperity. Each envoy that was sent out and discovered this asked about what had happened and were told the same cryptic phrase: "We are under the wing of the Eagle, we have nothing to fear, and our desires are met." The reply would be said with a genuine smile, the people were happy with their lives, and wanted nothing to do with Konoha's offer of alliance.

With the increasing number of declined offers, Tsunade ordered Jiraiya to have his spy network look into this "Eagle", and report back with their findings. It was a little difficult, but, the network managed to dig up a little information; what they found was a scattered time-line of events. Apparently, the "Eagle" was started in Wave Country, no one is sure when, and then at some point it engulfed Suna, and then swiftly following that the "Eagle" gobbled up Spring, and all the smaller villages afterwards. No one knew who lead this massive political monster, but many weren't too worried about it.

They didn't fear, because they'd learned it was run by only a single man, and monsters like that tended to collapse on themselves quickly do to in-fighting. However, their lax attitude's came to a halt when they learned that the "Eagle" was looking for partners to help the leader run his political machine; a chance Konoha intended to pounce on.

Tsunade decided it was time again to go on the offensive, the Leaf was going to need the Eagles help if it wanted to return to its former glory. Now the buxom blonde just needed an elite team to impress this Leader...and she knew just who could lead it

**xxxxxxxxxxx **

The moon was pitch black in the starry, night sky; perfect for an extermination mission. A mission currently being undertaken by ninja's of Konoha.

The bandit camp was set up about two miles from a small village that imported and exported goods for cheap. The village was built on the opposite side of a bridge that crossed over a deep ravine; the bandits had set up their camp on the other side of the bridge, closing the village in between the sea and the camp. The villagers didn't have enough boats to move all their citizens, so, they sent one boat with envoys to the Leaf to seek-out help. Being a small place with no real political influence or warriors of their own, the people of Chisana shukka-mura were forced to look to one of the larger, ninja villages for help.

Once the group arrived they quickly told Tsunade of their plight, and how they were in danger of being starved out. When asked about why they couldn't keep up their business to support them, she was told that the bandits "taxed" the people of not only money, but food too. And if too many people left at a time, the bandits said they would kill all who remained, so their small group was all that could be sent.

Tsunade saw this as a chance to help the Leaf village's reputation, and called for a squad to head out and aid the people of Chisana. The group consisted of: Hinata, Sakura, Sasuke, and was lead by Kakashi. The team met with one another, and swiftly exited the main gate to head to the oppressed village.

A hushed female voice buzzed through multiple ear-pieces, "I see a total of two-hundred and fifty chakra signatures Kakashi-san, most of which do not exceed civilian-level, but there are a small handful that have about chunin-level chakra; most likely rogue ninja who felt they weren't being paid enough and fled."

A silver-haired man on another end of the encampments borders responded, "Copy that Hinata. Alright team, you heard her, this job shouldn't be too dangerous but don't let your guards down; those chunin could have a few tricks up their sleeves. Remember, cover your area first before moving in on another team-mate's section...lets go." On that order, a chorus of "Hai" echoed through the ear-pieces before four bodies sprinted from the tree-line.

Hinata sprinted from her spot in the trees and moved towards the entrance to take out the two night-watchers stationed at one of the two entrances of the camp. Being the swiftest member of their team it was her job to get rid of the guards that encircled the camp, using the basics of her Gentle-Fist training the lavender princess plowed the palms of her hands into the two men's stomachs; destroying their organ and killing them before they could utter a word. Unsheathing her blades Hinata charged the bottom of her feet with chakra and jumped, gripping the edge of the guard box with her fingertips* she pulled herself up, brought her legs up knees to her chest, and kicked the guard that stood in shock at the sight of her; her kick crushing his insides.

The sound of the impact alerted the other two to Hinata's presence...but not soon enough, because almost immediately they found her swords embedded in their chests; she'd thrown them in order to kill both at the same time. With that section complete Hinata used her byakugan to check the progress of her clones; she'd made two before setting out to begin her task. She smiled as she watched one finish decapitating the last guard in its designated box, the other was in the process of shoving its sword through the mouth of another guard and finishing with the last guard post. The camp had been built in a triangular fashion; not the best design in terms of defense, but, what more could she expect?

With the guards disabled, Hinata checked on the rest of her squad...and frowned when her gaze landed on the Uchiha male. He was sloppy in his executions; a testament to his lack of finesse. Her lavender gaze noticed that many of the men weren't even dead! They had been slashed across the back, but their armor seemed to be just dense enough that a quick slash didn't have the power to land a killing blow, and now, those men were getting up! Hinata's face molded into a grimace of annoyance as she leaped from the guard-box she was in and moved to put down the rising bandits...this time, permanently.

_'This is stupid. Why did Tsunade feel the need to send **us **to do this mission? Any second-rate chunin could handle these losers.' _These were the thoughts of Sasuke Uchiha as he moved through the camp of men, his sword like a glint of light in the air as the raven-haired young man made quick work of the fools he'd been assigned to exterminate. What he failed to notice though, was that not all his attacks were doing their job. This is because the Uchiha had forgone activating his sharingan, leaving him unable to see his mistakes in the darkness of the night. As he finished up his next kill, Sasuke sensed a presence behind him and spun to see who had snuck up behind him.

Sasuke was greeted by the sight of his team-mate, Hinata Hyuga, making quick work of enemies that he thought he'd finished. She seemed to dance around the men, her sword strikes precise and lethal. As two men attempted to spear her Hinata spun on the ball of her foot and twirled in-between the two oncoming spears. She stopped, entered a crouched position, and sweeped the men's feet out from under them.* When they landed on their backs Hinata impaled them with her swords, before pulling the blades out, and looking at Sasuke with a look of clear irritation.

"What, why are you looking at me like that?"

Hinata opened her mouth to answer, but the spiking of Kakashi's chakra alerted them, and the two dojutsu wielders moved towards the center of the camp.

When they arrived Hinata and Sasuke Noticed Kakashi facing off against a two men. One with wild, orange hair dressed in a sleeveless, tan v-neck and green pants with blue ninja sandals. The other, had sky-blue hair tied in a pony-tail, he was dressed in similar clothes; but his color scheme was white and black. Looking around, the two noticed that Sakura was attempting to fend off the other two bandit generals; attempted, because it seemed they were beginning to overpower the pink-haired chunin.

"Sasuke-san, you go over and assist Sakura, I'll aid Kakashi-san.."

The raven-haired Uchiha turned and asked, "Why are you giving me orders, you're not the commanding officer of the team. If anything, **you **should go and assist Sakura and **I'll **help out Kakashi-sensei."

Hinata didn't even turn to look at him as she replied, "Sasuke-san, think, it'd be better to have a ninjutsu specialist and a taijutsu specialist together instead of two of the same types; otherwise there will be an imbalance. I'm not trying to be your commanding officer, I simply wish to finish this and return home." Then, with no further explanation, the Hyuga heiress rushed to aid her Jounin commander.

Sasuke grumbled as he watched the young woman for a moment before admitting she was right, and going to aid Sakura.

Readying her swords, Hinata entered the battle with a stab at the orange-haired man's head. When he managed to duck that, she went for a vertical, rising-slash with her second gladius. This didn't work any better because the man managed to lean back and avoid it, before countering with a swipe with his katana. Hinata parried the move, and stepped into her opponent's guard, where she moved to run him through with her unoccupied blade. Here, the orange-haired man showed his fortitude by stopping the sword with his palm before dropping his katana to take hold of Hinata's other wrist and deliver a headbutt. This failed though when Hinata let go of her caught sword, and brought her armored bicep up to take the blow, stunning her opponent. After this, Hinata sliced her sword out of her opponent's hand, leaving it incapable of ever holding a sword again, and then bringing her newly freed hand down to stab the gladius in her left hand into the man's neck; at the juncture of the neck and shoulder.

With that finished, Hinata looked over to Kakashi who was finally able to gain the upper hand on the pony-tailed man in black and white. Then she looked to her two other team-mates and was glad to see that they too had the upper hand in their duels as well. The mission looked like it was going to go off without a hitch

And then the tent lit up in a bright blue light before imploding, sending strips of the cloth tents scattering across the camp.

When the light died down the ninja's from Konoha looked to see that there was a figure standing in the epicenter of the blast-zone. He was tall, about 6'3, with a muscular build with a head of wild, shoulder-length brown hair and dark-green eyes. He was dressed a little better than the other bandits, signifying him as the actual Leader of the group. The man had on a chest-plate that was tied with a back piece, both made of smooth metal. Underneath this he had on a black, long-sleeved shirt that was frayed at the wrists and had holes in the elbows; his forearms were sheathed in leather bracers. Below the waist he wore skirt of metal that was designed like scales, and a pair of brown pants that tucked into blue ninja sandals. In his hand he held a large sword, as long as he was tall, about a third of the length was made up of the grip, while the rest was made up of the actual blade. It was triangular in shape and was double-edged.*

"Who thinks they can walk into the camp of the Rafu otokonoko, lead by I, Kaijinbo, and be so impolite?" His voice was deep, and echoed through the now barren encampment.

Sasuke stepped forward, intent on answering the man, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking behind him he saw that Sakura had been the one to stop him. "Don't Sasuke-kun, we don't know what he's capable of."

The Uchiha just scoffed and shrugged off the emerald-eyed chunin's hand. How was he suppose to defeat his brother, and regain his family's honor, if he couldn't handle some bandit?

"We ninja of Konoha dare. You and your group have terrorized the people of Chisana shukka-mura long enough, and we're here to put a stop to it."

The hulking giant peered down at Sasuke from under his nose and replied, "And who are you little man, to think you have the strength to stop me?" With that, the man hauled the giant blade up onto his broad shoulder and waited for his opponent to answer him.

Sasuke entered into his battle stance and said, "I am Sasuke Uchiha, lone survivor of the Uchiha clan, and your executioner tonight." Then, in a burst of speed, he moved to engage his enemy. Trying for a quick victory, Sasuke aimed a horizontal slash at the man's legs...only to be surprised when the giant leaped effortlessly over the attack. As the bandit leader hung in the air, he brought his sword off his shoulder, and stabbed it with impressive speed towards the grounded Sasuke.

Although managing to avoid the initial strike, the Uchiha male was unprepared for the follow-up move; the sword was used as a launcher for the wild man, who planted his feet directly into Sasuke solar plexus and sent him flying back. Managing to catch himself and land on his feet, Sasuke let out a grunt of effort as he rushed back to enter a second round with his opponent.

When he got within striking distance again Sasuke tried for a feint, and then moving into an upward-thrust towards the bandit leader's chin. His katana was knocked aside when, in another surprising show of speed, the man yanked his sword from the ground in a reverse-grip and blocked the attack. Not letting it phase him, Sasuke set his face into a determined scowl, and jumped into the air and landed a roundhouse-kick to the side of his opponent's face. But when he landed, and tried to stab into the man's chest-plate, his attack was stooped short again by his opponent's large hand...and then his sword was snapped in half like a twig.

Sasuke didn't have time to be shocked because almost immediately after he was punched in the face, and sent sprawling onto the ground. Clutching his throbbing cheek Sasuke spat blood from his mouth, and then a voice started to whisper inside his mind.

_'Look at the weakling, can't even take down a lowly bandit on his own.'_

'_Shut up! You're not real, you're just a trick from the curse-mark, I don't have to listen to you anymore!'_

_'Oh, a trick of that weak snakes little super hickey? I think not Sasuke; I'm the voice of truth, and the truth is...you're still too weak!'_

"NO!" The Uchiha shouted as he activated his fully matured sharingan. Getting back to his feet Sasuke stood straight for a moment before vanishing from sight. While most of the people lost sight of the raging clan heir, Kakashi and Hinata managed to follow the male's movements. He re-appeared when he swept the giants legs from underneath him, and caught the tumbling giant by the throat, before hopping into the air and bringing his captive down and slamming his back into the ground.

Without letting his feet touch back on the ground, Sasuke charged a _**Chidori**_ in his right hand, and impaled the bandit leader; effectively leaving just his three lackeys left to clean up.

Hinata looked on at the sight of Sasuke's fist inside the man's chest cavity. Sighing, she thought to herself, _'Well, so much for going off without a hitch.'_

**xxxxxxxxx**

"And that's what happened Lady-Tsunade, we completed the mission with only that small moment of difficulty and returned as soon as we felt rested enough for the trip." Kakashi finished giving his report.

The bandit extermination team was currently standing in the Hokage's office giving their report on the mission. As Kakashi relayed the information, Tsunade took that time too look over the rest of the Jounin's squad.

First was, of course, her new apprentice. Hinata had transformed from a small, diamond in the ruff to a shining example of what it means to be a kunoichi. She stood at a height of 5'8 and had gone from a petite princess to a stunningly beautiful woman. Her dark, indigo hair now reached the middle of her back; flowing smoothly like a waterfall. Her attire hadn't changed much, except she now had a chest plate that covered the upper-half of her torso; leaving her trim, lightly muscled stomach exposed. She was considered one of the most beautiful women in the village, but this woman was also a deadly weapon in her own right. Around her waist was a leather sword-belt that held her two blades, the Hyuga heiress had become very proficient in kenjutsu. That, along with her Gentle-Fist and new array of ninjutsu, made the girl one of Konoha's top-tier ninja; her skills were so advanced she's said to be on par with even Kakashi.

Tsunade had to hold back a smile as she looked upon her apprentice with pride. That pride turned to disdain when her eyes swiveled over to the Uchiha. Sasuke now stood at a height of 5'11, and with an athletic build, he was every bit the proud Uchiha warrior. He was dressed in a black, long-sleeved shirt that had the Uchiha fan on the shoulders, below the waste Sasuke had on black shinobi-style pants that were stuffed into shin-high, gray ninja sandals*. The pig-tailed blonde grimaced when her eyes landed on the regulation chunin vest that was fitted to the Uchiha males torso. She'd tried her hardest to avoid granting the attempted traitor any form of promotion, but with the ever growing number of genin Tsunade knew she'd need chunin to teach and lead teams. She may not like him, but as Hokage she had to merit his skills...but she took a small satisfaction in the bruises that covered Sasuke's face.

Finally, Tsunade's eyes were drawn to Sakura. The Haruno girl had also come a long way, from the love-sick schoolgirl that the blonde had met when she returned to the village, to a strong-willed and talented shinobi in her own right. After her defeat at the hands of Hinata, Sakura had gone to find another teacher to help her get stronger; she found one in the likes of Kurenai Yuhi. While at the time the ruby-eyed Jounin was still the leader of team 8, Kurenai set aside time to personally train the pinkette in all she knew. It wasn't long before Sakura became a skilled genjutsu user, as well as a swift and deadly kunoichi. However, there still existed bad blood between Hinata and her former sensei, and Tsunade suspected that Kurenai's main reason for taking on Sakura was to try and spite Hinata. Although, judging from the look of contentedness on the Hyuga's face, it wasn't working.

Like the other two, Sakura's attire had also undergone a change. Gone was the red battle-dress, in its place was a chain-mail shirt that covered the area above her stomach. On her shoulders she had half-circle pauldrons made of steel, although they were partially covered by the crimson scarf that was wrapped around her neck. Her arms were bare, but her hands were enclosed in a pair of finger-less gloves that had plates of metal in the middle. Below the waste she wore black, spandex pants that were swallowed up by fitted, knee-high, plated-metal boots Her hair had also grown longer, reaching between her shoulder-blades, and was tied back into a pony-tail.

Finishing her observations of the three ninja in front of her, Tsunade decided she should address and dismiss them for the day.

"That's good to hear Kakashi. Hopefully, this success will help spread some good word about the Hidden Leaf, and we'll start to get more missions in for you guys. And while we're on the topic of missions, I don't suppose I could get you four to accept some D-rank missions to help out around the village?" Looking at the faces in the room she soon regretted asking.

Hinata's face had immediately turned to the famed "Hyuga stare", as if asking if the pig-tailed blonde were serious. Thinking about it, Tsunade should have know better than to ask such a thing of the indigo-haired heiress. The people of the village still held animosity towards Naruto, some going so far as to blame Naruto about the current condition of the village; something that Hinata, who was still in love with the blonde, would not tolerate. Tsunade knew her answer was "no".

Sasuke looked like he wanted to say yes, but with his attempting to honor his only friend made it impossible to take up the offer. His treasury had taken a major blow, and the raven-haired youth was forced to take just about any mission he could in order to keep from losing having to start selling things out o his compound. Too bad it was hard to find work when many villages hated your guts. Tsunade did not feel sorry for him.

Sakura actually had her hand raised in acceptance. _'No surprise there'_, Tsunade thought as she looked at her. The pinkette didn't have any regret for her treatment of the blonde, nor her feelings about his banishment. While Sakura may have improved drastically as a ninja, her personality still had much to be desired. With a sigh, Tsunade turned and looked at the final occupant.

Kakashi had a bored look on his face, but she could see the underlying annoyance in his lone eye; he just didn't want to do the missions. And Tsunade couldn't blame him, who wants to go from ANBU captain to babysitter?

"Alright, well, Sakura I'll hand you a small stack of them as you're leaving and you can take the ones you want to do, and then leave the rest with Shizune at her desk. With that said," she pointed to the three chunin-level ninja, "you three can leave; I have something I need to discuss with Kakashi."

With that Tsunade picked up a stack of papers, handed them to Sakura who had stepped forward, and watched as they exited her office. When the door shut behind Sasuke the pig-tailed blonde's cheerful demeanor dropped away, and in its place sat a mask of business. She steeped her fingers in front of her face and called out:

"Tell us what you've learned about the Eagle, Jiraiya."

**xxxxxxxxx **

As the three chunin exited the Hokage building Sakura called out to Hinata, "Hey, Hinata-san, do you feel like having a spar today? We only had them back when we were being trained by Kurenai-sensei and Lady-Tsunade, and I was hoping to compare our skills; what do you say?"

Hinata stopped, but didn't turn around as she addressed Sakura, "Haruno-san I apologize, but, I have no time to spar with you today. I have more important things that require my attention and, to be honest, I'd really just rather not waste my time humiliating you...you do enough of that yourself." With that, the Hyuga heiress began walking away again.

Sakura stood there for a moment and let her fellow kunoichi's words sink in, before settling her face into an angry scowl as she started to mutter, "Who does she think she is, embarrass myself, she just doesn't wanna face me because she knows I'm stronger than her now." Pushing thoughts of Hinata to the back of her mind, Sakura turned to address her male team-mate.

"Sasuke-kun, maybe you'd like to spend time together? We don't have to train, we can just...get to know each other better."

Sasuke turned and gave the pinkette a bored look as he replied, "Sakura, I've said no to that same invitation multiple times already, why do you keep asking?"

"But Sasuke-kun, I don't understand, why do you keep saying no? I've gotten strong enough that I'm not a burden to you on missions anymore, what is it that I don't have?" Sakura's eyes glistened with un-shed tears as she waited for his answer.

However instead of words, Sasuke just sighed and walked away, leaving Sakura to walk alone. As she moved through the streets of her village the pinkette thought about the last three years.

After Naruto's banishment Sakura was left with no friends, Ino had been especially cold to her. None of her former classmates wanted anything to do with her for one reason or another, so she looked to herself, and made a plan to become a real shinobi. After her plan to learn under Tsunade failed, Sakura was in a state of loss; she didn't know what her next step should be. And then she stumbled upon Kurenai-sensei. When the older woman asked what was wrong the pinkette spilled her guts, ending with her lack of direction in regards to her future. It came as a surprise when the Jounin asked if she wanted to become Kurenai's apprentice, but it didn't stop her from saying yes.

In the beginning it was tough, Kurenai was a harsh taskmaster, and asked much from Sakura in terms of training. But after the first year, Sakura noticed a substantial increase in her skills, and that she'd hit a stride in her training; things had gone from torturous to bearable.

During their second year of training, Kurenai set up monthly sparring matches between Sakura and Hinata. In the beginning the green-eyed kunoichi thought it would be like their last match...she was quickly proven wrong, and shown just how wide the gap was between her and Hinata. The Hyuga heiress dominated their spars, with Sakura never managing to land a blow. She noticed that this infuriated her new sensei, and it showed in the increased difficulty of her training. After about the fifth match, Sakura noticed that it had become even; she was managing to land blows and dodge Hinata's strikes. This sent the girl's confidence through the roof...until she found out why. Hinata had begun training with weights, which made her slower in the early stages of that training; something Sakura didn't find out about until after the heiress had finished the regiment.

Despite the numerous defeats, all the training did get her one thing; her friendship with Ino was restored, over a mutual dislike for Hinata. Ino explained that, while she was grateful to her fellow heiress or her help, the platinum-blonde still couldn't accept being second-rate to the Hyuga girl.

"Hmm, now that I think about it, maybe I can visit Ino at her families flower-shop." With a sense of purpose in her step now, the pinkette redirected herself and began her trek towards her lone friends home.

**xxxxxxx **

"So what have you found?" Tsunade and Kakashi waited as Jiraiya dropped his camouflage technique.

The Toad-Sannin folded his arms in front of his chest as he answered his Hokage's question, "To be honest Tsunade, my network is finding less and less information on this "Eagle" as the time goes by. At first, all it took was a little digging to find some information but now? Now it's like the damn thing has just up and disappeared; nobody will talk about it."

Kakashi raised his eyebrow as he asked skeptically, "_Nobody_ Jiraiya-Sama?"

"Well, no, it's not that they won't say _anything_, just that the only thing my men hear is praise for how much the Eagle is doing for them. It's when you try to find out about the man running it that everyone quiets down; whoever this guy is, he does not want to be found."

"-growl- Then how are we supposed to form an alliance with this new power if we can't find the guy leading it!?" Tsunade slammed her palms on her desk as she vented her frustration.

Jiraiya sighed as he said, "I asked about that already. I had someone tell me that 'you don't approach him, you must wait to be approached'. And before you say anything, I asked how that happens, and the guy told me that only those the Eagle saw as worthy were approached."

Tsunade stood up and paced as she thought about the information her former team-mate told her. How could an organization gain so much ground in such a short time? Or maybe the Eagle had been around longer than they thought and it was just now picking up speed; either way, Tsunade couldn't ignore it.

"You say the Eagle only approaches those it thinks are worthy...why hasn't he come to us?"

"Probably because they've heard of out new reputation," Kakashi muttered. This earned him an annoyed look from his Hokage, but he just lifted his brow as if asking "am I wrong".

"-sigh- Well, before I ask you to continue, did you find anything on Naruto?"

Jiraiya couldn't manage to look his life-long love in the eye as he gave her the bad news, "Unfortunately, no, my network hasn't heard anything of Naruto since that sighting a year ago of a blonde male in Nogyono senshi. What Naruto would be doing in a village like that I have no idea, but, it's said that shortly after that a small army drove out the ruler of Bird Country."

"Did Naruto lead the army?" Tsunade felt her heart race as she waited for the answer.

"No, it was lead by a man named Gaius. They don't have much of a description for him because his face was covered by his helmet."

The buxom Hokage nearly swallowed her tongue when she heard her fellow Sannin's answer. What many didn't know was that Caesar's first name was Gaius; just that in his time the first name wasn't used much for men.* Deciding not to let on that she knew anything, Tsunade cleared her throat and said, "W-Well, thank you for trying. And, now that you bring it up, what happened after that battle? I was never told."

"I...don't really know unfortunately. Since I was splitting my network between looking for Naruto and learning about the Eagle I didn't have any men left to pat attention to the outside world."

Tsunade did her best to hide her disappointment. Even though she'd sent the letter, she never got one in return, and it left an empty spot in her heart. The blonde knucklehead was like a son to her, and all she could do was send letters to him; letters that never received any reply.

"Alright, well, continue with what you've earned about the Eagle; no matter how little the amount."

"-Ahem- Okay. So, from what my spies heard, the leader of Eagle is-" Jiraiya didn't get the chance to finish speaking because Shizune rushed into the office.

"Lady-Tsunade, I apologize for the interruption but, the Kazekage has been abducted by members of the Akatsuki!"

All eyes in the room snapped in the direction of the Hokage's assistant as she finished speaking.

"What, when!?"

Panting, the young woman replied, "Last night -pant-, they came into the village and -pant- took him. Jiraiya-Sama's spies in Suna just relayed the information to me a moment ago."

Tsunade lowered her head in thought. If she sent a squad of ninja out to rescue Gaara, the red-headed Jinchuuriki may just be open to re-aligning with Konoha. Looking back to her assistant Tsunade said, "Alright, here's what I need you to do Shizune, go and get me Shikamaru, Kurenai, and Anko; Kakashi, I'm sorry, but I need to ask you to head this mission."

"It's alright Hokage-Sama, the Akatsuki is dangerous group, and I wouldn't feel right leaving any of my fellow ninja to battle any member of the organization alone; no matter how skilled they are.

With her orders set, Shizune exited Tsunade's office in search of the three ninja she'd been tasked to find.

"Kakashi, I want you at the main gate ready to go in ten minutes. I may pass-over your tardiness when it comes to most instances but, so help me, if you make your team wait today you'll be running after Tora for the rest of your career!"

The silver-haired Jounin simply nodded in confirmation and exited via a poof of smoke. Tsunade looked at the last occupant in the room and said, "Jiraiya, I want you to pull a section of your network off the Eagle case and set them back onto the Akatsuki; we can't afford to let something like this happen again."

The Toad-Sannin didn't leave immediately, instead, he looked to his fellow Sannin and asked, "Wouldn't it be wiser to pull men from the search for Naruto, Tsunade? The kid hasn't been properly identified since he left, we don't really have any leads, and for all we know by now he could be... -wham-"

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY IT!"

Seeing the look in the blonde kunoichi's eyes made the white-haired man regret his outburst, but it didn't make him wrong. "Alright Tsunade, I'm going, just...you need to start preparing for the worst." And like with Kakashi, he exited through a plume of smoke.

After everyone was gone, Tsunade wiped the tears from her eyes, and finally allowed a small smile to make its way onto her lips. She still had it if she was able to make Jiraiya believe she was upset. No, she had a strong sense that Naruto was alive, and that she'd see him soon.

**xxxxxxxxxxx **

In another part of Konoha two chunin were having lunch at their usual ramen stand. One was Hinata but, if you hadn't seen the changes yourself, you wouldn't believe that the second person was Shikamaru Nara.

Shikamaru had filled out. No longer was he the scrawny academy student that managed to be the only chunin of his class, he now stood tall at 5'11, and years of harsh training had left the young man with a body of hard muscle. His attire had also changed. Other than a set of steel pauldrons on his shoulders, and a leather strap that held his kunai, the male Nara's chest was bare; his forearms were encased in a pair steel bracers as well. His lower body was clothed in a replica of Naruto's pteruges* and a pair of black ninja sandals, with knee-high grieves covering his legs; he also had a leather belt that held his sword. Shikamaru's hair was kept in its signature pineapple-style pony-tail and he, like Hinata, had forgone wearing his headband.

"So Sasuke thinks he's a swordsman now huh? I guess he figures it'll help him close the gap between his and the Imperator's skill-levels."

Hinata nodded in silent agreement as she drank from her cup of tea. She'd ran into Shikamaru after her return from the bandit extermination and they decided to stop at Ichiraku's. The Hyuga heiress had been quick to relay the details of her mission to her fellow future-Roman. When she told the Nara heir about Sasuke's new skill, the young man stopped her with a laugh.

"I find it funny how the Uchiha thinks he can just take up a katana and think that swinging it around makes him a swordsman" replied Hinata.

Shikamaru allowed himself another small laugh before setting his face to a serious look and saying, "Have you received any word from Temari? It's been a few months since you and she last spoke."

"Unfortunately, no, I haven't had the time to send anymore letters; I'm being kept busy with missions that "require someone of my skill-level." More like our being seen together so often has caused a commotion in the Council, and they wish to see our time spent together kept to a minimum."

Shikamaru finished his bite of ramen before responding, "It seems so. Although, it comes as no surprise, considering what they did to Naruto. Those fools are so paranoid. The problem is, Temari is our best chance at finding out where the Imperator is, we certainly can't hope to find him ourselves; what with no form of network outside these walls and our missions being lead by someone who doesn't want Naruto to be found."

"Do you really think Naruto-kun was the one who freed Bird Country? I only ask because, that was one of the main leads Temari sent me in regards to his whereabouts."

"I don't doubt it, the way the battle was won sounds like a Naruto-style victory; pulling it out from the jaws of defeat. And what about that rumor involving Taki; do you think he really made off with their Jinchuuriki?"

Hinata swallowed a bite of ramen before answering, "It very well could have been him. I believe Naruto-kun is attempting to build his forces, and who better to add to his ranks, than his fellow Tailed-Beast containers. My only hope is that he manages to build up a large enough force before Konoha discovers Naruto-kun's plan."

Before the conversation could move to a different subject, Shizune came running up to the ramen stand, looking relieved to have found them.

"-pant- Shikamaru -pant- I come at the command of Lady-Tsunade, -pant-, you have been requested to be part of a rescue squad, -pant-, and are to greet your team at the main gate, where you will be briefed on your task."

The young heir in question simply looked at the Hokage's assistant with a bored expression, before standing from his stool, and addressed Hinata, "It seems I am being called away...what a surprise."

"Yes, how convenient, I guess we can finish our conversation later. I'm interested to hear what kind of mission you were sent on."

With nods of good-bye, Hinata returned to her meal, and Shikamaru began his trek towards the gate.

When he arrived at the gate Shikamaru was surprised to see who made up his team. He hadn't seen Kurenai in months, and Anko was someone he'd only heard talks of; having only met her once, when she proctored the chunin exams. Kakashi wasn't much of a surprise, but it did put the Nara on edge that the silver-haired Jounin was on time; meaning this mission was important.

Kurenai looked to the young man and said, "Shikamaru, I'm glad to see you managed to arrive in a timely manner. This mission is a high-priority situation, and we need to move fast before it's too late."

"Yeah, I figured it was important if even Kakashi managed to be here on time. Would you mind telling me what our mission is, Shizune didn't really give me any details, she said I'd be debriefed here."

This time it was Anko that spoke up, "We're heading to Suna to rescue the Kazekage, Gaara, from the organization known as the Akatsuki. The report says he was captured last night, so they have a huge lead on us, and we have no time to lose."

With that, the group of ninja leaped into the trees, and raced off to Suna.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Temari stood at the main entrance to the Sand village, she stared off into the distance while she wrung her hands nervously. Being in such deep thought, the sandy-blonde didn't notice the team of Leaf ninja that appeared in front of her.

Shikamaru, seeing the young woman's distress, walked up and said, "Temari, hey, snap out of it." When the words seemed to have little effect the shadow-manipulator proceeded to shake Temari's shoulders.

This seemed to do the trick, because Temari's eyes blinked in rapid succession and she replied, "Huh... W-What's...Shikamaru? What are you-" The young woman stopped when she noticed the other three ninja that had accompanied Shikamaru.

"What are you three doing here, Gaara made it very clear that Konoha's shinobi are no longer welcome in Suna."

Kurenai Yuhi stepped forward and answered her, "Much like your village no doubt has, Konoha has a network of informants that keep tabs on the group known as the Akatsuki. Through them, we've learned about what happened to Gaara, and have arrived to lend aid in returning him to his village."

Temari narrowed her eyes in suspicion as she replied, "While it is true we keep tabs on the Akatsuki, in order for us, or the Leaf, to know of the abduction of another villages Jinchuuriki so quickly...we must have spies in that village."

"And we apologize for any misunderstanding our having spies in your village may have caused, but, the Akatsuki is a dangerous organization Temari and the villages have to look beyond their personal squabbles if we hope to defeat them", Shikamaru jumped in, hoping to cool down the rising heat of the situation.

As the Leaf ninja waited for Temari's response, Shikamaru used this time to take in the sandy-blond's new attire. What he found made his eyes widen in recognition.

Temari was dressed in a black battle-kimono that stopped around her knees, with a red obi tied around her waist. On her feet, instead of ninja sandals, were a pair of plated, metal boots; like Sakura wore. The sleeves of the kimono were short, reaching just enough to cover her shoulders, and so did nothing to hide the leather bracers that were decorated with the embroidering of flying eagles. Looking to the collar of Temari's kimono, Shikamaru noticed a thin, metal chest-plate strapped to her torso. And finally, the Nara heir took notice of the circular token that was tied to a string around her neck; it too held the symbol of a flying eagle.

_'Although it's not surprising. If it really is Naruto running this "Eagle", then it makes sense that Suna would be under his protection; and that Temari would carry his symbol.'_ Temari's voice pulled the young man from his thoughts.

"As helpful as that sounds Shikamaru, we don't need your villages help-"

Kakashi chose that moment to interrupt, "Because your allied with the Eagle correct?"

Temari turned her narrowed gaze in the direction of the legendary Copy-Ninja and replied, "If we are, then you understand why we don't require the Leaf's assistance; our ally would already be in pursuit of the men who took my brother. Now I suggest you remove yourselves from fucking sight, before I have you detained for entering territory where your village's ninja are unwelcome."

The squad of Leaf ninja looked at one another, before deciding that they'd pushed their luck enough, and began the return trip home.

After making it a considerable distance from the front gate, Shikamaru signaled for the rest of the team to stop. Kakashi, who had an idea as to why, voiced his curiosity.

"Is there a reason you've requested the stop Shikamaru? Surely it isn't because you're tired."

"No Kakashi-san, I was actually hoping you could summon one of your tracking hounds for us." Now the two kunoichi on the squad were confused.

"What for Shikamaru?" Questioned the ruby-eyed Jounin.

The Nara heir held out his hand, revealing soot, and replied, "Temari had an encounter with one of the men that took her brother. It stands to reason that, in light of her distress, she didn't clean up from the battle, so when I went to shake her I picked up residue from the Akatsuki member's attack; meaning Kakashi-san's dog can track the scent."

The three Jounin were impressed with the young chunin's plan. Kakashi wasted no time summoning a tracking hound and having it get the scent off Shikamaru's hand, it took a moment because the soot had broken down.

Once the ninja-dog was done, it turned to Kakashi and barked in success. The silver-haired Jounin looked pleased with himself, but then sent a curious glance at the Nara heir.

"Why exactly did you want me to get the trail of the Akatsuki that took Gaara?"

"Simple, if we find him then we find Gaara, and if we find Gaara we'll find the members of the Eagle that were sent to recover him. I figured this could be Konoha's chance to network with the Eagle and maybe get some of their support."

_'And it might lead me to Naruto, but they don't need to know that.'_

Seeing the logic in their fellow ninja's plan of action, the three Jounin nodded silently in agreement, and all were soon following the lead of Kakashi's tracker hound.

As the Leaf ninja hurried towards their destination Shikamaru's mind was in deep thought about what they would find. Would Naruto be leading the rescue mission? It seemed likely, considering the kinship he shared with the red-headed Jinchuuriki, but at the same time it wouldn't seem likely; the blonde wouldn't chance being seen and having his whereabouts sent back to Konoha. And what if he was heading the squad; how would he react to seeing ninja from the village that banished him? Those were the thoughts that plagued the young man's mind as he followed behind his superior officers.

_'Superior only in title as far as I'm concerned,' _the Nara heir growled in his head.

Despite his impressive skills, and his genius mind, Shikamaru's village saw fit to keep the young chunin down. Shikamaru knew that they did this because, if he was made a Jounin, the new rank would give him permission to select his own missions; which could help him find Naruto. He would have been able to check out every lead on his blonde Imperator, and possibly find and join up with him.

_'It'd be better than rooting around in the muck back in Konoha, and with Jounin only being selected by petition of the people, I'm likely to spend the rest of my life as somebodies pawn!'_

**xxxxxxxxxxxx**

The group of Leaf ninja made good time in reaching the end of Gaara's scent trail. When they finally stopped they were surprised at what they found. In front of them was a crystal-blue lake set against a cliff, but upon closer inspection of the rocky surface, Kakashi noticed a boulder that seemed out of place; made more apparent by the glowing seal tag that was slapped in the middle of it.

Kurenai, who'd just taken notice of the tag, looked at her fellow teacher and said, "Well Kakashi, what do you want to do? We _could _try to force our way in."

Kakashi just stared at the seal as he responded, "I wouldn't recommend that. We don't know just what type of seal was used; it could blow up in our faces or just be a simple security seal, but considering we're dealing with the Akatsuki, I wouldn't want to take any unnecessary chances."

"Well then what do you suppose we _should _do? Because the way I see it we have two options: have someone knowledgeable in seals crack the damn thing, or, we bust our way in. And since I don't see a seals master anywhere around here, I guess that leaves us with choice B." As she spoke Anko readied her hands to begin signs for one of the more destructive jutsu she learned from Orochimaru, but she was stopped by Shikamaru who placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Wait Anko-san, look." As he said this the Nara male pointed to the paper seal they had just been discussing...it was no longer glowing.

"Does that mean they're done with the Kazekage," asked Kurenai in a hurried tone. In response, all members of the Konoha team held their breath and waited a few minutes to see if the boulder would move. When it didn't, they got their answer.

Someone else had shut down the seal.

Finally, Kakashi spoke up, "Alright, well, let's not waste anymore time; the seal's down so I suggest

we-" He was cut-off by the sound of footsteps hurrying towards them.

All heads turned and stared at the forest's edge as the sound got louder and louder. Finally, the squad of Leaf ninja were met with a surprising sight.

Standing along the edge of the lake was a total of 160 men. These men were set up in groups of two squares; 80 men each. The front-lines for both were lined with men that were carrying large, oval-shaped shields. The shields were silver, but they were battle-worn; showing that these soldiers had experience. In the center of the shields were a circular bump. Each of the soldiers wore a helmet; skullcaps with a plate in the back to protect the neck. Other than that, all the Konoha ninja could see was that the men wore leather shoes and had metal shin-guards.

They took a look at the rest of the men, and noticed a distinct difference in style. The rest of the soldiers were covered in what looked to be plated armor that covered their entire upper-body as well as their shoulders. Kakashi noticed that the men also wore the same type of leather skirt-type bottoms that Shikamaru was wearing; these men wore leather boots and also had shin-guards. Their helmets were a little more protective than the front-lines, they had side-panels to protect their faces. The soldiers also had leather bracers, and carried a blade on both hips.

While the three Jounin were admiring the new arrivals, Shikamaru was staring wide-eyed at the lone female that stood in a commanding position in front of one of the groups of men. The woman was of average height with a trim, athletic figure. Her torso was covered in a chest-plate that had clips on the sides that connected the back piece; the metal was, like the others, battle-worn. Instead of a bulky, muscle-style though, this armor was sleek and was built to accommodate the woman's chest. The Nara heir also took notice of the fact that, the woman's armor stretched to cover her lower-body as well; around the hips the metal flared out into three triangular guards that protected the groin and the upper-thighs.

Shikamaru moved his line of sight to take in the roman-style sandals that were on her feet along with her own pair of shin-guards. Instead of leather, her bracers were also made of metal, and she had a pair of rings; one on each middle-finger. On her head she wore a helmet, Shikamaru recognized the style from the one Naruto had worn during the retrieval mission. What took the young man by surprise was the long, crimson ponytail that reached down to her tailbone. It seemed like she sensed him staring, because the woman turned her gazed in Shikamaru's direction, and what he saw almost floored him.

Her eyes were a smoldering dark-brown instead of sickly yellow, and her face had matured, but Shikamaru recognized the woman as Tayuya; the same girl he thought had died during the retrieval mission!


	12. Vnguibus aquilae

Rise, Son Of Rome

Ch12- **Vnguibus aquilae**

**(The eagles talons)**

It wasn't possible. How could someone survive something like that!?

These were the thoughts racing through the head of Shikamaru Nara as he stared into the eyes of a former opponent he believed to have fallen in battle. Tayuya of the North Gate stood before him, no signs of injury, dressed in modified Roman armor.

_'But how can that be? Even if she managed to survive, why would Naruto allow her to serve under him; she can't be trusted!'_ The warrior thought to himself. But before he could think on it any further, a female voice to the right of him broke through the silence.

"Friends of yours Shikamaru?"

The young man turned, and was greeted by the curious stare of Kurenai Yuhi. Still floored by the sight of Tayuya, the Nara heir could only shake his head; his voice currently failing him. It looked like the ruby-eyed Jounin wanted to say more, but she was interrupted by a male voice.

"You there, ninja, what business do you have here!?"

The squad of Leaf ninja all turned their attention to the man that spoke. Shikamaru noticed right away that this man was also a Roman officer due to the similarities between his armor and Naruto's, but there were small differences; the mans shoulder lappets were brown, and were thicker and rounder than the ones Naruto wore. His pteruges around his waist were also brown, and these were thinner, and more numerous than Naruto's. The soldier also wore a cape pinned at both shoulders.

Anko, deciding she didn't like this guy's attitude, retorted with, "What's it to you what we're doing here, huh? And we don't have to tell you anything, because last I checked we didn't take orders from some guy in a skirt!"

Each member of the team could see the spark of anger that passed through each soldier's eye at the "skirt" comment; all but the woman, who just started to laugh.

"Hahahaha that's exactly what I said, but the big man on the hill just goes on about "tradition", and "pride in the Roman way." That guy's just lucky he's such a great leader, or else I don't think anyone would want to wear those things." The red-head finished her monologue and turned her eyes to the group of ninja, "Now, unfortunately, I do need you to tell me what you're doing here because you're interrupting our mission."

Kakashi chose this time to step forward, "Then I take it you are warriors for the Eagle?"

"Uh, yeah cyclops, can your one eye not see the big gold eagle that guy in the back is holding up?" The lone female soldier thumbed in the direction of the back of her group of men and, sure enough, there was a soldier holding a pole with a large golden eagle sitting on it.

"Then today has been very fortunate for both of us," Kakashi began, "we were hoping to find and speak with your commander about a possible alliance between the village of Konoha and the Eagle."

Before the woman could respond, her fellow officer called to her, "Tayuya, this is no time for idle chit-chat, we were sent by the Imperator to retrieve his friend; and right now I'd say we're doing a very poor job of it!"

The now identified Tayuya's eyes widened in realization before hardening with purpose, "You're right Cassius, that was foolish of me, let us continue with our mission." Tayuya held up her hand in a fist, and immediately all her men stood at attention. Next, she turned and shouted, " Once I've brought down the boulder be ready to engage the enemy!"

Her response was the sound of all her soldiers getting into battle stances; the front-line aiming their pilum at the giant rock.

The group from Konoha looked on as Tayuya pulled a flute out from the holster on her thigh and brought it too her lips. Shikamaru, having experienced first hand what she could do, called to his team-mate's, "Get out of the way, that woman's dangerous!"

After seeing her path cleared, Tayuya began to play. It was a high-pitched, shrieking sound that came from the holes of her flute, and while all the Roman soldiers seemed immune to it, the Leaf ninja were forced to cover their ears. Everyone watched as the boulder began to chip, then crack, and finally the giant rock began to crumble to pieces.

When the last bit of barricade was removed, all those standing on the outside of the cave were greeted by a strange sight. The Kazekage, Gaara, was floating in mid-air, surrounded by a strange blue glow; the blue, which must have been chakra, was being transferred to a giant statue. His eyes were wide open and shown bright-red, and his mouth was open and letting loose an almost animalistic groan. Gaara was floating above a stone table, which was surrounded by a circle of pillars, and on these pillars stood holograms of people; people that all wore cloaks decorated with clouds. When the group outside looked closer, they noticed that two of the men were actually there; a blonde and a hunched man with a tail.

With the destruction of the boulder all those inside stopped what their ritual out of shock, and looked at the large group outside. A man with silver, ringed eyes and spiky hair spoke in a deep voice, "Sasori, Deidara it seems you were followed. We have yet to fully extract the One-Tails from the Jinchuuriki, finish off these intruders quickly and alert us when you are finished, so that we may continue." With his instructions given, the leader and the rest of the holograms phased from existence.

Both men turned to the entrance to the cave, the man with the hunch-back turned to the blonde and said in a raspy voice, "Way to go Deidara, you've managed to botch _another_ job. Now we have to clean up your mistake!"

The blonde, Deidara, went to retort but was cut-off because he and his partner had to dodge a series of spinning disks. When they landed both Akatsuki members looked in the direction the attack had come from, and saw Tayuya readying her flute for another assault. Before they could formulate a plan Cassius called out to his men.

"Legionaries, ready your pilum!" The front-line held their spears lined-up with their head, ready to fire at the command of their leader. "Fire!" The wave of spears headed in Deidara's direction.

The blonde man noticed this, but instead of panicking, he simply slammed his hand on the ground and was soon surrounded by a large plume of smoke; indicating he'd performed a summoning. When the smoke cleared, everyone's eyes were greeted by the sight of a giant, white clay bird carrying the rogue ninja on its back.

"Hahaha so much for your pathetic spears, now, it's my turn!" With that, the bird flapped its wings, and lifted off into the sky. Once he felt far enough away Deidara stopped the bird, and reached into the leather satchel he had hanging around his body.

Those down below were confused, until they saw him toss a series of smaller clay birds at them. While the Leaf ninja were confused, it seemed the soldiers knew something they didn't, because both commanders shouted to their men, "Legionaries, defensive maneuvers!" The front-line readied their shields, and those without them drew their swords and began to deflect the flying, white pieces of clay.

**xxxxxxxxx**

Kakashi and the rest of his group were confused, but they didn't have long to think about it because they were soon forced to dodge the tip of Sasori's tail. Each member of the squad moved in a different direction, scattering their force so as too better keep an eye on their new opponent.

"I'm surprised all of you managed to evade my tail; most enemies aren't quick enough and are impaled immediately," came the same gravely voice as before, "Let's see if you can do it again." The tail dove into the ground, leaving each ninja to wonder which one he would target.

Shikamaru said nothing as he leaped from his spot, just managing to evade the pointed tip. When he landed, the Nara male was surprised when he had to perform a back-flip to once again avoid being skewered. _'That tail moves fast!'_ Mid-flip the young man unsheathed his dagger, so when he landed on his feet again he immediately sent it sailing towards his opponent.

Sasori saw the bade coming and silently applauded Shikamaru for the move. Using his tail to block the incoming attack, the rogue ninja was then forced to leap into the air to avoid another attack; a fireball courtesy of Anko. Once in the air, the puppet master sent out his tail again, this time at Kurenai; who was preparing a genjutsu. The woman barely managed to avoid the attack, but her footing was off, and so she soon had the tail wrapped around her throat and slamming her into the cliff-side.

Once she'd hit the wall of rock, Kurenai felt the tail let go and she was soon down on all fours catching her breath. When she realized that Sasori hadn't finished her off Kurenai turned her crimson gaze towards her comrades to see why; Kakashi had rushed up to engage the Akatsuki member in battle!

The legendary Copy-Ninja had decided he'd had enough of just standing around, and so when he saw that Sasori was busy with Kurenai he took his chance. However, he'd underestimated the speed at which the Akatsuki member could move his tail, and so his kunai was blocked by the razor-sharp point of the artificial attachment. Kakashi tried for a sweep kick, but his opponent just jumped backwards out of the way. And before the silver-haired Jounin could continue his attack, he had to narrowly dodge Sasori's tail again; only this time, Kakashi realized something...the tip was coated in poison!

Jumping back he yelled, "Don't let that thing cut you, it's coated with poison! There's no telling what kind of side-effects it could have, and I don't think any of you really want to find out."

**xxxxxxxx**

While the Leaf ninja dealt with Sasori and his poison-tipped tail, Tayuya and her legionaries were busy with Deidara and his flying, clay bird. After getting rid of all the miniature birds the red-headed woman brought her musical instrument to her lips and began to play. A smooth melody greeted the ears of all those around her, and soon, a giant phantom began to take shape; Tayuya was summoning one of her Doki.

Once the giant was finished, Tayuya began to play a different tune; this one much more fast paced. The Doki let out a roar, and began to rip trees from the earth and hurtle them towards the air-born Akatsuki member.

Deidara steadied himself and maneuvered his bird to avoid the large projectiles. After clearing all the trees, the blonde man reached back into his pouch, and created not only another flock of birds but also a small horde of snakes. "My last show wasn't enough huh? Then try this on for size!"

This time, the birds didn't wait to be swatted away, and began exploding once they were in range of a soldier. Those who were unprepared were knocked off their feet, but those that saw this were quick to roll out of the way. Unfortunately, some of these men rolled right over a snake, and were blown back from them exploding.

Tayuya looked around at her men in annoyance. This was not how they were supposed to behave, jumping and rolling around like animals, they were Romans damn it! Pulling her flute away from her lips, the red-headed soldier shouted to her fellow officer, "Damn it Cassius, stop standing there gawking and do something! My men aren't in any shape to be handling Deidara right now, so maybe you'd like to give us a hand here!?"

Cassius had been watching his partner struggle the entire time. Truth be told, the older man held distaste for the woman, he felt she had no place out on the battlefield and belonged in the followers camp with the slaves and whores. Unfortunately, by order of the Imperator, she outranked him and Cassius was left absent choice in following her commands. So, under duress, the older male turned to his men and gave the order, "Legionaries, ready the _**Kaminari yari**_!"

Every soldier flashed through three quick hand-signs before each was holding a pilum made entirely out of lightning in their hand. On the command of Cassius, the first line threw their spears.

Deidara saw this and swiftly moved his bird out of the way, knowing that if one of the spears hit, his bird would explode. While he moved his masterpiece, the blonde kept his eye on the red-headed woman with the flute; she was particularly dangerous. Deciding to go for speed, the rogue ninja created a swarm of small bees and sent them at the soldiers.

Tayuya saw this and once again prepared her flute; with the sound of a rushed melody, a force-field was erected around the lone female warrior and her men. Some of the bees were too fast to stop and exploded against the energy field, those that didn't turned to the remaining Century and continued their attack. However those men were well knowledgeable of Deidara and his deadly art, so the ones who'd already thrown their elecric spears went through another set of hand-signs and sent numerous amounts of baseball-sized fireballs at the flying bombs.

While those men were busy with the swarm of miniature bombs, the remainder of Cassius' forces sent more of their electric spears at the blonde Akatsuki member and his giant bird. When it seemed the soldiers were going to run out, and Deidara thought it'd be safe to go on the attack, his ears picked up the distinct sound of projectiles heading his way. Turning his head, the young rogue was greeted by the site of _another _wave of spears heading his way; courtesy of Tayuya and her recovered men. Although he tried his best to dodge them all, the blonde ninja was unsuccessful, and in a bright explosion followed by a thick cloud of smoke Deidara cried out in pain.

**xxxxxxx**

Hearing his partner scream out in pain caused Sasori too look away from Anko, who he was currently entered into a dead-lock with, and over towards the other battle going on.

During his own battle Sasori had been hard-pressed against Shikamaru, who had shown off his years of intense training in a stunning display of swordsman-ship, and was forced to retreat to the inside of the cave where he used the darker atmosphere to perform hit-and-run tactics against the Nara heir. After a rather successful attack, the hunch-back was preparing to end the young Nara's life, but was stopped short when Anko attacked from behind; nearly skewering him. Afterwards, they entered into a close-ranged battle that resulted in the dead-lock.

Anko noticed her opponents distracted focus and chose to capitalize, "You shouldn't ever lose focus in a fight," she said with a smug smile before weaving passed the Akatsuki members guard and landing a headbutt. She quickly followed this with a knee to the gut, and finished it with a round-house kick that sent Sasori flying back. Anko performed a set of hand-signs before using her _**Hidden Shadow-snake hands**_ technique to capture the rogue ninja.

"Ha," the Special-Jounin laughed, "you Akatsuki guys aren't so tough. Your partner's down, and you're captured, all that's left now is...Hey! What's so funny!?" Her gloating had been cut-off by Sasori's raspy laughter.

"Hahahahaha you are you stupid fool! Did you really think my partner and I could be bested so easily. We wouldn't be such high-ranked ninja if a couple of Jounin and a group of idiots in armor could defeat us," the puppet master said. Soon, the cavern was filled with a strange cracking sound. None of the ninja could tell what it was until Kakashi's sharingan saw the truth; Sasori's body was imploding!

"Anko, get away from him!"

But the warning came too late, and the former apprentice of Orochimaru was sent flying back as the Akatsuki member's body erupted. The purple-haired woman landed hard on her back, and was left winded while the rest of her team looked on at the result of the implosion.

Standing before them was a completely different figure than before. Where the previous body was hunched over and looked like an old man with a bandanna over his mouth, this new form was that of a lanky, red-headed boy with no shirt on. It was Shikamaru who realized what they were seeing.

"That body, it was one of your puppets; you used it to stash your real body so it wouldn't get damaged in battle."

The newly revealed Sasori laughed before responding, "Hahaha yes, it's true, I did use one of my puppets as a shield. But then, I couldn't let my greatest weapon out all the time right, after all, where would the fun be in that?"

Kurenai's ruby eyes widened with understanding, "You mean you turned _yourself_ into a...a puppet!?"

"That's right!" Sasori's eyes held a crazed look as he responded, "Early in my years I lost both my parents to the disease known as death, I got the news while I was home tinkering with my first puppet. As I stood there in our living room, listening to the messenger give his condolences, my eyes wandered over to my puppet and I began to have an idea; what if I could stop death? So I spent the formative years of my life studying the human body, and mastering my art of puppetry, until finally I was able to create human puppets."

"That's crazy," Kurenai said, "why would you want to live that way?"

The S-ranked criminal just shrugged his shoulders and let a condescending smirk slide onto his face, "I wouldn't expect a non-artist to understand the belief in everlasting perfection, but, maybe when this is all over I can turn you into one of my puppets and I can show you the wonders of eternal life?"

Kurenai felt a cold shiver run down her spine at the rogue ninja's implication before drawing a kunai from her pouch and entering into a defensive stance, "I think I'll pass."

Sasori merely lifted an eyebrow before lifting his hands up and performing the 'ram' hand-sign, "Such a shame, a beautiful rose chooses to wither and die than be preserved. -Sigh- So be it." With that, a cloud of smoke appeared on either side of the Akatsuki member, and when they dissipated he was joined by a pair of puppets.

The puppets were human-shaped and dressed in a fur, full-length robe; one was red, the other was black. On one hand of each puppet was a set of razor-sharp blades, the other was a normal hand.

Looking at her enemies Kurenai tightened her stance in preparation for an attack. The raven-haired beauty had little experience dealing with puppet-users, but she understood that they were notorious for having secret weapons hidden away inside their frame.

Her readiness was well founded because when Sasori sent his puppets at her, she barely managed to evade the swift attack. While she was in the air Kurenai looked down and saw that only one of the puppets, the red one, followed her. Her ears picked up the sound of movement, and she twisted to avoid being skewered by the second puppets bladed hand.

As she landed, Kurenai was knocked off her feet by a _third _puppet,this one wearing yellow, and as she landed on her back Kurenai's ruby-eyes widened in fear as one of the first two puppets came down on her; arm raised ready to impale her. Closing her eyes Kurenai waited for the intense pain...but it never came. Opening her eyes the older kunoichi was met with the sight of Kakashi holding off the puppets with a kunai.

**xxxxxxx**

While Kakashi was coming to Kurenai's rescue, outside the cave Tayuya and the Roman legionaries were busy dealing with Deidara. After the destruction of his giant bird the rogue ninja had been place severe disadvantage, the soldiers didn't give him time to summon another one.

Deidara was panting heavily as he ducked under a swipe made by Tayuya, the red-head had ordered her men to keep the Akatsuki member on the ground, but not to aid her in defeating the blonde. At first, Deidara had laughed and claimed that the battle wouldn't last more than five minutes; he was silently cursing himself now. Leaning back, the explosive expert avoided a rising slash, but was left unbalanced and vulnerable to the kick that hit him in the chest.

Tayuya hadn't expected her opponent to be so easy once she got him on the ground, but then remembered the blonde was a long-range fighter that relied heavily on his explosive clay. So when her foot connected with his chest, the red-headed soldier went to follow through with a stab to Deidara's head; he leaned to the side and she missed her target, but smirked when she still managed to land a blow to his shoulder.

She would have continued her assault, but Tayuya was forced to shield her face when the long-haired man threw small chunks of exploding clay at her. Coughing and cursing, Tayuya looked around and spotted her opponent now standing a considerable distance away; once again giving him range.

Instead of being upset the red-headed woman just sighed, sheathed her sword, and pulled out her flute. When she saw a small flock of birds come her way and start to circle around her, Tayuya began to play.

A soft melody echoed through the clearing and soon the birds started to explode. Deidara watched this in shock, never having encountered an enemy like Tayuya before he didn't know what was happening.

"H-How is this happening, what are you doing to my art!?"

Within moments all of Deidara's birds piles of ash and small lumps of clay. Tayuya, her job done, pulled her flute from her lips. She smirked but, before she could say anything, her blonde opponent started to laugh.

"What's so funny dumbass!? Can you not see that all your stupid birds are destroyed," Tayuya growled out in annoyance.

"Hahahaha yes," Deidara spoke through his laughter, " I admit that your technique is impressive but," he placed his hands in the 'tiger' symbol, "I have more tricks than just tossing bombs."

Before Tayuya had time to think about what he could mean all the clay that was scattered around her began to explode; the sheer amount being enough to cause an explosion that knocked the red-head off her feet.

Cassius had seen enough, the Imperator had sent them to do a job and here they were standing around while Tayuya played with some commoner! Turning to his men the Roman shouted, " Enough standing around, kill him!"

His response came in the form of a chorus of battle cry's as his men moved forward to engage the long-haired Akatsuki member. Before they got within attack range, Deidara hopped from where he stood so that he was now standing in the middle of the lake.

Looking to all the men on the shore he taunted, "You may be a large force, and you may even have some skill, but what good is all of that when you can't follow me on to the water?"

All the men standing on the shore looked at one another, then over to their conscious commander, when he gave them a nod they turned back to Deidara and smirked...before stepping onto the surface of the water.

Deidara's eyes widened as he said, "B-But how, you guys p-performed ninjutsu, and are w-walking on water, but y-you guys aren't ninja."

Cassius gave his surprised enemy a condescending smirk before he said, "No, you're right, we're not ninja. We're something much worse; Legionaries, show him the might of the Roman army!" Again, his response was the combined battle cry of 160 men as they all converged on the lone blonde.

Before they reached him Deidara regained his wits enough to perform another summoning; this time a clay dragon. The giant, winged piece of deadly art flapped its wings and the gust of wind knocked several soldiers off their feet. As the dragon flapped its way into the air several of the Roman soldiers attempted to bring it down with their _**Hono no yari**_, but were unsuccessful.

The Roman legionaries realized that their attempts weren't working, so they stopped and waited for Deidara to make a move; in hopes that they could counter and turn the battle back in their favor.

Up in the air, the explosives expert looked down at the assembly of men that were his opponents. While on ground they were formidable, with him in the air Deidara saw that he now held the advantage. Leaning down and placing his palm on the neck of his clay creation, the blonde activated what made this particular summons so dangerous.

The dragon opened his mouth and let out a giant breath of fire. The blazing, orange flames rained down on the Roman soldiers swiftly, and soon, the fire reached the front-line.

Deidara kept up his assault for another minute, just to be sure he'd gotten all of the men in the front, and then deactivated his dragons fire. When the steam of fire faded Deidara looked down at his opponents with a victorious smile.

**xxxxxxx**

"You really should be more careful Kurenai; I really don't want to have to listen to Asuma chew me out for letting you die," Kakashi said looking at the woman in question with his patented 'eye smile'. Then, in an instant, his eyes opened and they were steeled in concentration. Tensing his muscles, the silver-haired Jounin performed a spin-kick and sent his wooden opponent flying.

Years of being an ANBU agent gave Kakashi the instinct to dodge the senbon needles that came hurtling towards him; courtesy of the puppet cloaked in black. Scouring the area with his sharingan Kakashi noticed that Shikamaru had recovered, and was coming up behind Sasori's prone form.

Once he was within range Shikamaru swung his gladius; his hope being to decapitate the red-headed Akatsuki member. Unfortunately, Sasori wasn't an S-ranked criminal for nothing, and he managed to duck under the attack before donkey-kicking the Nara male in the chest. Turning his head, Sasori addressed his opponent, "That was smart, wait for me to be busy with the others before trying to sneak up on me; but it was very amateurish."

Shikamaru just looked at Sasori and said, "Then it's a good thing that wasn't my plan."

Sasori creased his brow in confusion, until the sounds of splintering wood reached his ears. Turning sharply the red-head's eyes took in the sight of two out of his three puppets being destroyed; one by the renewed Anko, the other by Kakashi. Sasori realized that Shikamaru's plan was to distract him, so his puppets wouldn't be fighting at full strength.

Turning his eyes back on the Nara heir Sasori wore a scowl as he said, "I suppose congratulations are in order; the few opponents who get this far never manage to get past my Tripuru kyoi. However, I must warn you that your deaths are inevitable; my next attack will make sure of that!" As he finished speaking the bare-chested Akatsuki member rushed Shikamaru; long, scythe-like blades protruding from his forearms.

Shikamaru was ready for him, and parried his opponents first strike before ducking underneath a swipe at his head. However, when he tried to step inside Sasori's guard the young warrior was surprised when the red-head's chest opened up to reveal a canon. Before he could roll out of the way Shikamaru was blasted by an intense beam of energy. Landing on his back the young chunin allowed the momentum to carry him and he rolled to his feet; just in time to block a back-hand slash.

When Shikamaru blocked his attack, Sasori was prepared to use another one of his enhancements to regain the advantage, but before he could do anything he had to leap into the air to avoid Kakashi's attempt to drag him underground. While in the air the red-head was then forced to twist his body so Anko's _**Mud Bullets**_ would miss their target. Once he landed, he aimed his right hand in the Special-Jounin's direction, and fired a torrent of water at her; it was unsuccessful however because she blocked it with an _**Earth Wall**_.

Before he could make any other attempt against Anko, Sasori's danger senses went off, and he ducked another attempt to decapitate him; this time by Kurenai. He tried to donkey-kick again, but Kurenai had quicker reaction time than Shikamaru, as well as more flexibility, and managed to twist to avoid it. Continuing with the movement, the raven-haired kunoichi turned her defensive maneuver into a spin-kick that landed squarely on Sasori's jaw.

With his head whipped around from her kick, Kurenai moved in and began an up-close assault. She buried her right fist into her opponents stomach, then followed up with a knee to the side of Sasori's head. As his body was turned from the force of the kick the ruby-eyed Jounin used her kunai to stab the red-head in his back. As the wood splintered Kurenai wrapped her remaining arm around Sasori's throat so he couldn't escape.

"Looks like you over estimated your own strength," she said. What she couldn't see, was Sasori's shocked look turn to a sinister smile...but she felt the pain from him slamming his head into her face.

Reeling back from the pain, and trying to blink the stars from her eyes, Kurenai was left unprepared for the kick that landed against her stomach and sent her rocketing into a series of stalagmites.

Sasori had no time to celebrate his victory over the beautiful kunoichi because he was almost immediately engaged in combat by Anko, who was furious about the state of her friend. The red-headed Akatsuki member ducked under a kick, and barely managed to avoid an uppercut, but used that second to swing his arm; aiming to force Anko to block his blade. It worked, and Sasori was given time to breath, before he continued his attack by trying to plunge his second blade into the purple-haired kunoichi's stomach.

Anko, seeing no time to dodge, used her bare hand to catch her opponent's weapon. While the laceration on her hand stung, Anko knew it was a huge step up from the alternative. However, this left her vulnerable to Sasori's chest-canon, and she watched as the panels opened up and the energy gathered to blast her. Thankfully, Kakashi came to the rescue again.

Kakashi came from the side this time with a stab aimed for Sasori's right flank. When the eternally young rogue moved to avoid the attack, the silver-haired Jounin exploded into a cloud of smoke; revealing himself to be a clone. With his vision clouded Sasori was unprepared for the attack that came from above, and was hit with a powerful hammer-fist, followed by a bicycle-kick. Before Kakashi could continue his assault however, Sasori's rage erupted.

"ENOUGH!" And he blasted the Copy-Ninja with an intense beam of energy that sent him sailing through the air.

The two conscious Jounin, and the lone chunin, looked on at their opponent with wary eyes; their muscles tensed and ready to move.

Sasori no longer looked like the calm, composed fighter from the begging of the battle. Now, his body was chipped and had cracks where he'd been hit, his hair was wild and disheveled, and his eyes were hard and blazing with anger.

"Who do you fools think you are!? I am Akasuna no Sasori, the world's greatest puppet master, who are you weaklings to think you can do this to me!?" The tirade ended...and then Sasori began to laugh. It was a low, cackling sound first before it blew into a full-out maniacal laughter.

"Oh, yes, you all are a very special lot. You're the _first _to ever push me to use this technique," he turned his crazed eyes to Shikamaru, "I told you my next attack would spell the death of you all; your deaths are inevitable, there will be no escape for you hahaha!"

Next Sasori proceeded to perform a series of hand-signs, and when he landed on 'rat', he called out his attack: "_**Sen ningyo no odori**_!"

The area was then covered in an enormous cloud of smoke, and when it cleared the Leaf ninja stared in horror at the sheer number of puppets that littered the inside of the cave. On instinct, each of them converged around Kurenai to protect the unconscious woman from being killed while she was defenseless, but each of them knew, it would take a miracle to make it out alive.

Sasori looked upon his opponents with a malicious grin, "Now, I think it's time we end this little game." He raised his arm, and directed his puppets to attack.

But, just as they all rose up to descend on the squad from Konoha, a hail of flaming spears came raining down upon them; piercing many of the puppets, and making them useless.

**xxxxxx**

Deidara's smile slipped from his face when he saw that none of the soldiers had been harmed by his attack. Taking a closer look, the blonde noticed that all the shields carried by the men in the front were giving off a faint, blue glow that dimmed until it was no longer visible. It didn't take long for Deidara to realize that those shields had absorbed his attack.

_'But...where could they have gotten the technology for such a thing'_ He thought to himself. But he didn't get much time to think on it because he was soon dodging more electric spears. As he weaved his dragon through the onslaught he made another attempt to fry his enemies with his creations fire; no luck. The Romans shifted with him, making sure that the shield-bearers were always in front. Finally, fed up with playing cat and mouse, Deidara directed his dragon higher into the sky, and then had it blast a giant firestorm downwards at an angle the soldiers carrying shields couldn't protect from.

Cassius saw this and ordered his men to scramble. The soldiers broke off into smaller groups and did their best to avoid the scorching flames. Once they were clear, Cassius signaled quickly to a small platoon behind Deidara and another one to the side of the clay dragon, the men noticed their superiors motion, and readied their attacks.

However, before anybody could move, Deidara was knocked from his clay dragon by an invisible force. As he plummeted to the ground his summon tried to save him, but a platoon of soldiers took the opportunity to destroy it with their spears; without its rider, the dangerous piece of art was practically helpless.

When the bright flash from the dragons explosion faded everyone, including a soaking wet Deidara, looked to see what had caused him to fall. There, kneeling along the shore line, was a re-awakened Tayuya.

"-huff- You didn't think -huff- you'd get rid of me that easily -huff- did you?"

Deidara looked around at the area, assessing the situation. While he still had a decent amount of chakra left, it wasn't enough that he could hope to summon another bird or dragon, and then have chakra to spare. He could try to form a distraction and escape...but then he'd have to explain to Leader-sama why he'd returned without Sasori; just the thought sent an unpleasant chill shooting up his spine. The blonde explosives expert saw only one real way that he could take out the large force that surrounded him.

Leaping into the air Deidara tears away his cloak, revealing a stitched up mouth on his chest, and an open one on his side, "Hahahaha, you think you've beaten me? I'll show you all just how explosive my art really is!" With this the blonde Akatsuki member pulled a wad of clay from his pouch, un-stitched the mouth on his chest, and held it close to the new mouth; preparing to feed it the clay.

"You're all fini- guh!"

Deidara's eyes widened in shock and pain before they turned to look down for the source...a spear was protruding out of his stomach. Deidara looked around, until his eyes landed on Tayuya who had made her way over to where the original pilum were that had been thrown at the beginning of the battle; the pilum that Deidara had forgotten about.

His last thought as he fell back down to earth was, _'I-I didn't even go out with a bang.'_

Once her enemy crashed into the lake Tayuya addressed her men, "Legionaries! Take note of what I just did, don't **ever **just sit and wait for your opponent to perform an attack. If he stops, you attack, because chances are their going to attempt something that will turn the battle in their favor; lucky for us, this dumb shit gave away his plan before it even started. Now, let's go see how those Leaf ninja are handling their opponent."

Her men all responded by slapping their fists over their chests and nodding before tightening their platoons; the cave mouth wasn't big enough to allow two Centuries to enter side-by-side. The legionaries formed into ten platoons of sixteen men each and marched forward.

When they arrived at the cave's mouth, the Romans saw that the other Akatsuki member, Sasori, had unleashed an army of puppets and had the ninja from Konoha surrounded. They also noticed that one of the groups members was unconscious and was in need of the others protection; which would hurt their already slim chances of surviving the deadly attack.

While Tayuya wasn't particularly fond of Leaf ninja, especially Shikamaru, her Imperator had given strict orders to bring the Nara heir to him if the young man was found. _'Damn him,'_ Tayuya thought to herself before she called to her men, "Alright, I want you guys to aim for as many puppets as possible with your _**Hono no kami**_."

The legionaries all saluted before doing as commanded, then, as Sasori began his assault, the soldiers threw their flaming spears in a hail of fiery death.

Once the attack finished Tayuya then ordered her men to stay alert as Sasori looked over I their direction.

"So," he began, "you managed to defeat Deidara hmm? You must either be very skilled, or he was foolish and let his guard down; how's about we find out?" And so he motioned for a swarm of puppets to attack the Roman soldiers.

"Men, form testudo!" The legionaries in the very front planted their shields in the ground and crouched behind them, while those behind held theirs up and over the front-line's. The puppets smashed into the blockade and attempted to break through, but when it became clear that wasn't an option the puppets were forced to try and attack around the shields.

Tayuya, who was in the center with Cassius, shouted to the legionaries, "Now, front-line, move forward! Those of you on the ends form a wall with your shields; we're going to force them to funnel through the top, where we can better defend against their greater numbers!"

The men did as they were instructed and soon the army was moving through the cave, defending against Sasori's puppet army to the best of their ability. The red-headed female warrior decided that if she wanted to end things quickly, she'd have to call on her Doki again. So, bringing her flute to her lips again, she began to play a haunting melody; this time not one, but _three _ghostly figures phased into existence.

Once each ogre was solidified, Tayuya's melody changed to a sharp, fast-paced song and the Doki began to attack. While some of the puppets managed to avoid being clobbered, there were others that were so focused on breaking through the Romans defenses that they were left wide open, and were smashed to splinters.

Sasori watched the destruction of part of his puppet army with increasing annoyance; who were these people, and why were they interfering!? The red-headed Akatsuki member decided that he'd focus more on eliminating the fools from the Leaf village first, and then he'd worry about those other pests. Turning to begin a new assault, Sasori had to jump out of the way to avoid being run through by Kakashi's _**Chidori**_.

As he landed he addressed the Copy-Ninja, "How rude, don't you know it's dishonorable to attack an opponent when he's not paying attention?" Kakashi just narrowed his eyes and leaped after him.

When they met Sasori blocked Kakashi's kunai strike with his right arm-blade before attempting to cut off the Jounin's legs with the other blade. Kakashi jumped over the attack and landed a solid kick to Sasori's head, the Akatsuki member allowed the momentum to carry him, and he retaliated with a swipe at the Copy-Ninja's chest. Kakashi wasn't able to avoid it fast enough and suffered a long, but not very deep cut across his his torso.

The puppet genius was about to re-engage Kakashi but he was forced to swivel out of the way of a spear that was aimed to impale him. Looking towards the direction of the throw he saw that the Romans were finished, and Sasori realized that _again_ he'd lost focus and a part of his puppet army had been destroyed.

_'Damn it all, I have to re-think my approach, this isn't getting me anywhere.'_ With that thought Sasori pulled on his chakra strings and encircled himself inside the remains of his puppet army.

"Lets see how well you all fare now."

The puppets all went flying, some in the direction of Tayuya and her army, and others towards the squad of Leaf ninja while the rest remained to protect Sasori.

Again Tayuya had her men form the testudo, but she was running low on chakra and was unable to summon her Doki; forcing her to fight with her sword. As she hacked and slashed at the army of wooden weapons the red-head couldn't help wishing that the 13th legion had been sent to fight alongside her own. Before she could think on the subject any further, the puppets pulled back...and just hung in the air.

_'What the heck is going on,' _Tayuya thought to herself. Her answer came when the puppets all opened their mouths and began to spew fire. "Shields up! Cover those inside the square!" Her command came a little late, and some men suffered burns, but soon the shields were up and absorbing the flames.

While that was going on Shikamaru was busy fighting off a number of the puppets aimed at him. After landing a crippling blow to a puppet in a brown, fur robe the Nara heir swiveled out of the way of another puppets hail of senbon fire, allowing it to fly towards another puppet; some of them lodging in _its _mouth and stopping whatever it had planned. Shikamaru decided not to take any chances and lopped off that puppets head before engaging another of the wooden soldiers.

Kakashi was faring much the same with the help of his sharingan. He ducked and weaved under slashes that would have cut a lesser ninja to ribbons while managing to land blows of his own; a testament to his skill as a former ANBU captain. Ducking under one particularly dangerous strike, the Copy-Ninja went through a short series of hand-signs before calling out his attack: "_**Asusupaiku**_". A series of stalagmites erupted from under the ground and skewered multiple enemies.

Like her two squad mates Anko was also fairing well, however, unlike them she had the added difficulty of protecting her unconscious friend as well. She'd summoned a few of her snakes to aid in defending Kurenai, but they could only do so much, and what was let over Anko herself had to deal with. Leaping aside she avoided a blast of concentrated energy that one puppet shot from its mouth, but she wasn't able to fully avoid a slash that was aimed at her unprotected back and was punished with a long, bloody streak across her trench-coat. Fueled by anger, Anko donkey-kicked her attacker before leaping into the air and using the _**Phoenix-Flower **_jutsu to incinerate many of the surrounding puppets.

With the combined efforts of the Leaf ninja and the Romans lead by Tayuya Sasori's puppet army was eventually brought down to just the handful that he'd kept back as personal protection. However the trade-off was that most of the rescue party was drained and tired, while some had even suffered several hindering injuries.

Sasori was impressed with his enemies strength and fortitude; he'd never encountered anyone who had pushed him to such a degree. Many armies had attempted to defeat him and they all failed, yet, the strange group before him had managed to destroy many of his puppet army; they were truly impressive.

"You all have done remarkably well, I am truly astonished by your strength, but it seems that in defeating my one-thousand puppets you've tired yourselves out; what a shame. I guess all that's left to do now is put you all out of your misery." To punctuate his meaning, Sasori lifted both hands, and set his remaining fifty puppets in a semi-circle around the group; then the final assault began.

The front-most wooden weapons jaws dropped open and shot forth blazing hot flames. While the Romans that were in range simply set up their shields, the Leaf ninja were forced to jump or dive to avoid the attack.

When Kakashi leaped to the side he was engaged by a handful of puppets that had been flanking the group. Exhausted from the continuous use of his sharingan in battle the former ANBU captain was beginning to feel sluggish. While he managed to avoid the life-threatening injuries, Kakashi often was caught off-guard and hit by the more shallow attacks; however this only slowed him down more, the silver-haired Jounin was beginning to wonder if he'd make it out of this battle alive.

Anko, who was already wounded from defending Kurenai, was fairing worse than her fellow Jounin. Even with her flexibility the Special-Jounin was still unable to dodge or avoid many of the sharp blades that came her way. Anko's trench-coat had been torn to shreds from the constant assault, and even her shin-guards were beginning to crack under the strain of so many attacks.

While the two Jounin's were fighting just to survive, Shikamaru had trained rigorously over the last three years to increase his stamina. With no use of jutsu so far, and no energy being wasted on a dojutsu, the Nara heir still had plenty of energy left to deal with the puppets that had followed him into the air. Shikamaru back-flipped to avoid a stab to his abdomen, and when he landed the young warrior swiftly rolled along the ground to avoid a hail of steel pellets. Once back on his feet Shikamaru engaged two of his enemies in close-ranged combat. After parrying a deadly side-swipe, the young Nara decked the puppet across its wooden jaw before his instincts kicked in and he ducked an attack from behind; to his relief the attack couldn't be stopped and ran through the puppet in front of him.

Tayuya and her men fared better than the ninja. Being a larger force aided them in being able to fend off their attackers easier, and much quicker. They took advantage of the wide birth of the cave's inside and were able to thin out the force that had been sent to deal with them. Once their battle was won Tayuya and her legionaries turned to face Sasori himself, while leaving the Leaf ninja to fend for themselves.

"Do you not think we should aid the Nara boy Tayuya? We have orders-" Cassius began, nut was cut-off by the red-head.

"I know, but look at him, he's doing fine. If he needs our help we'll send a handful of men over, but I'd rather get this guy out of the way first."

Begrudgingly, Cassius accepted his superiors words before turning back to their main target. Sasori stood alone, his body covered in evidence that the Leaf ninja had given him a hard time, and his cruel smile had slipped into an enraged scowl.

"Who are you people!? Why have you come and interfered with the Akatsuki's plan!?"

"We know an organization like yours has its own spy network," Tayuya answered, "so I'm sure you've heard of the 'Eagle' that's been whispered about; we are its talons, the legionaries. And we've come to rescue the Kazekage, as he is a close friend of our Imperator."

Sasori's eyes widened a small fraction a the mention of the 'Eagle', he had indeed heard of them, several of the Jinchuuriki had been picked up by the rival organization. Zetsu had been charged with finding out as much as he could on the; yet all he managed to discover was _which _Jinchuuriki they held, and that was only because of the damage reports done to those villages that were their former homes. The wheels in Sasori's mind turned as he thought up a plan to save himself.

"But wait, if your leader is gathering the Jinchuuriki as well, then we have a common goal do we not? Surely our two leaders can come to some sort of an agreement; if you'll allow me, I can return to him with the news and we can set up a meeting."

Cassius stepped forward to reply, "Unfortunately for you, the Imperator doesn't ally himself with scum like the Akatsuki. No his plans are far beyond the scope of any of your organizations feeble minds, and aligning with you would only slow him down, so I think we'll just take the Kazekage and be done with this."

Upon motioning from Cassius, a small clutch of soldiers began to make their way towards the prone form of Gaara; who had been almost forgotten about during the struggle. However before they reached him the men were forced to jump back to avoid being hit by a pressurized blast of water shot from Sasori's left palm.

"I'm afraid I can't allow that. You see, _my_ leader has his own agenda for the Tailed-Beasts, and I'd be forfeiting my life if I didn't try to stop you." Sasori kept his left hand aimed in Gaara's direction while he opened his chest, revealing his energy canon, as well as setting his right hand facing the Romans.

Neither Tayuya nor Cassius knew quite what to do. With his one hand trained on Gaara's defenseless form Sasori had trapped them in a stalemate. All was still aside from the continued sounds of battle going on between the tired Leaf ninja and the remains of Sasori's puppet army.

Then, a third-party spoke out: "I heard you say something about 'honor'. How about we do this the right way then, and you can fight me one-on-one?"

All heads turned in the direction of the voice, and found Shikamaru standing proud as he waited for the Akatsuki member's answer.

Sasori stared at Shikamaru for a moment before grinning, and settling into a lax stance, "That is very brave of you my friend, to think you can take me on all by yourself, but I'm sure if you re-think your challenge you'll realize that you'll want some help. Might I suggest that small group of soldiers there?" Sasori pointed towards the men who had been sent to retrieve Gaara.

Shikamaru just unsheathed his sword and stood ready to defend himself, "Gratitude for the offer, but I'm sure I'll be more than enough of a challenge for you; having their aid would make it unfair, and the battle would end too soon."

"Hahaha very well then," the red-head replied, "then let us begin!" Sasori rushed Shikamaru at surprising speed and attempted to end the fight quickly by slicing him in half. The young Nara saw this coming and blocked the strike before ducking underneath a swipe meant to take off his head. Once clear of danger, Shikamaru delivered a powerful uppercut to Sasori's jaw and then made an attempt to plunge his sword into the puppet-users chest.

Sasori managed to regain enough focus that he managed to catch the sword with his hand; his puppet body saving him from any harm. Before he let go the red-head's chest cavity opened, and he fired a quick beam at his opponent. Shikamaru took the blast head-on and was sent rolling along the ground. Sasori quickly followed after and attempted to impale the young warrior with his arm-blade, but Shikamaru came to a stop and twisted out of the way. Tensing his muscles, Shikamaru brought his gladius down were the blade was closest to Sasori's arm; the piece of deadly metal cracked, then broke off.

Angered that one of his weapons had been destroyed, Sasori reached forward and grabbed a fistful of Shikamaru's hair, and followed it up with a knee to the face. While his opponent was down the puppet genius stomped his foot on top of the young Nara's chest; pinning him to the ground.

With his eyes opened wide, and an insane gleam passing trough them, Sasori spoke, "Hahahaha Finally! I have to say, this day has been most enjoyable; you all have given me such a work out." He raised his right arm and prepared to strike down Shikamaru, "However, I already told you _boy_ that your death was inevita- huh! What trickery is this!?"

During his victory speech Sasori was surrounded by a giant tree; he was soon trapped inside the trunk. The Akatsuki member looked around wildly for what had caused this strange tree to suddenly appear, but found that nobody had moved or had their hands held in any symbol.

"You should be more aware of your surroundings, and don't ever just _assume_ an enemy has been defeated because their unconscious." The feminine voice came from behind Sasori as a woman emerged from out of the tree trunk.

Kurenai had woken up.

"You stupid bitch, let go of me!" Sasori began to struggle, but soon realized he wasn't going anywhere and settled down._ 'What do I have to fear,' _he thought to himself, _'they can't hurt, nor kill me. Once this foolish woman's technique wears off I'll simply just kill her and then the rest of those fools.'_

Kurenai just smirked triumphantly as she said, "For a supposed genius you made one fatal mistake; you turned your back to an enemy. I know what you hide from your opponent's...I know how to defeat you."

The woman placed her fingers into the gap she'd created before, when she's stabbed Sasori in the back, and began to pull. In moments the sound of splintering wood echoed throughout the cave as Kurenai broke of a piece of the red-head's back. Once the wood had been fully moved aside, Kurenai's ruby-red eyes immediately found a glowing cylinder being held in the center of Sasori's body; it was the man's life-force.

Sasori began to truly panic. He'd turned himself into a puppet to _avoid _the terrors of death, and yet it seemed somehow the horrid disease had found him anyway!

"NO! No, stay away from that!" The man cried out as he renewed his thrashing.

But it was no use, Kurenai's _**Deathly Tree Binding**_ was her most famous attack; because once you were caught there was no escape. The raven-haired Jounin said nothing, feeling there was no last words Sasori needed to hear, and skewered the glowing cylinder with her kunai. Sasori's body jerked for a moment...and then just went limp.

Once she was sure the puppet-user was dead Kurenai released her technique and allowed the man to drop to the ground. Looking over to the others she said,"So, what happens now?"

Seeing that the battle was finally over Kakashi turned to Cassius and asked, "Is there any way that we could speak to your leader; our Hokage would greatly appreciate if he would at least hear our request out."

The Roman officer turned to his superior and raised an eyebrow. Tayuya was extremely reluctant to re-introduce her Imperator to anyone from Konoha after what he told her they had done to him. But, she did have strict orders involving Shikamaru, so it seemed she was left absent choice in the matter.

So, under duress, the foul-mouthed red-head replied, "Very well, you may return with us to camp; but _only _because you have the Nara with you, the Imperator wishes to greet him."

The aforementioned clan heir wasn't too surprised by this revelation; he already had a strong belief as to just who their Imperator was, and he was eager to reunite with his friend. While Shikamaru just nodded silently, picked up Gaara, and followed the tired Romans, the rest of the Konoha squad were curious as to what made Shikamaru so important that a man like this 'Imperator' would wish to meet him.

**xxxxxxx**

It took the tired men and woman of the 'Gaara rescue party' to return to the camp that Tayuya had mentioned. When they arrived, the Konoha ninja were surprised at how the surrounding area was set up.

From what they could see from the guarded entrance, there were numerous tents set up inside a fortified, defensive wall. In order to get to the camp you had to cross a small bridge that took you over a deep pit that looked to be dug around the entire camp. Once they crossed over and into the camp, after a quick explanation to the guards about the added members of the party, the Leaf ninja noticed just how structured the camp was. They noticed that the tents weren't just set up randomly, but in rows of five, so they created large squares.

The ninja noticed soldiers walking throughout the camp and noticed one of the front-line men without their shield. They saw that he wore chain-mail armor over his torso; different from the plates or 'muscle' armor they'd seen that day.

Tayuya saw their quiet confusion and decided to answer them, "Those men, being the front-line, don't require much armor considering they carry shields. At least, that's the way I see it."

With their curiosity sated the ninja continued to follow Tayuya and Cassius while the rest of the legion separated to either tend to their wounds or just relax. It had been a good day; no comrades had fallen.

As they continued walking Kurenai took notice of something and became annoyed, "Why are their no women in the camp?"

Tayuya snickered before saying, "Gee, thanks for the boost to my self-esteem. If you really need to know, woman are forbidden within encampment and are placed in the followers camp. The only women you'll see here are Fu, you two, and myself and that's only because we're warriors; the Imperator despises a woman who's only talent is being 'pretty'."

Both Kurenai and Anko felt their respect for this man increase, it seemed he understood that women could be warriors too. This sparked Anko's curiosity.

"So," she began, trying to be non-nonchalant, "what's this guy like? I mean, I've heard some things here and there about him but I don't really know anything solid...can you clue me in?"

Cassius had gotten annoyed by the two women quickly and said, "Why don't you hold your tongues until _after _we get there, then, you can ask the Imperator himself all your silly question?" His response was a pair of rude glances sent his way by the two Leaf kunoichi.

Tayuya, in an effort to avoid having to break up an argument and save herself from a headache called out, "Hey, look, there's his tent up ahead."

Each Leaf ninja turned their attention to the direction Tayuya had motioned too and took in the sight of the tent. It was blood-red in color, and significantly larger than any of the other tents in the area. There was a flag flying on the top of it, the flag too was red in color, and had the image of a golden eagle printed on it. At the entrance of the tent stood two guards, with more stationed around the sides, and no doubt the back of the tent. These men were like the ones who the Konoha squad had seen at the cave; plated armor, with full helmets, and no shields. They had their hands placed over the pommel of their swords and stern, hard looks on their faces.

While three of the four ninja were looking at that tent, Shikamaru was looking around the rest of the camp. He noticed that there were a few more impressive tents in the camp; they weren't as grandiose as the one before him, but they looked to be the tents of high-ranked military personnel. A punch to his bare shoulder drew the Nara heirs attention back to the matter at hand. He looked over and saw Tayuya looking at him with an annoyed expression.

"Pay attention you dumb shit, we're going inside."

Shikamaru rubbed his aching shoulder and followed after the woman he thought he'd killed. When they got to the entrance they again had to wait for Tayuya and Cassius to report in and explain the unusual addition to their group. Once one of the guards returned from entering into the tent, he told them they were allowed inside, and opened the tent flap for them to walk through.

Once inside, the group saw that the tent didn't just look big from the outside; it was wide and spacious on the inside as well. They all took notice of the unlit lamps, and tables that held numerous papers and such; the squad of ninja also noticed a curtain that seemed to hide a bed chamber for sleeping. Over in another corner they saw a pole mannequin that held a helmet with red horse hair streaking vertically along the top and a blood-red cloak around the shoulders. Finally their eyes were drawn to the center of the tent, where a handful of people stood looking down at what was presumably a map.

One man had his back to them and his head down, so they couldn't really see his features, but he was tall, standing at what looked to be at least 6ft. He wore the 'muscle' armor that Cassius wore, but his was silver. He had the same leather strips covering his shoulders, but they were a dark-red; as was the leather-strip skirt he wore around his waist, although his were thicker than Cassius'. The man also wore brown, leather boots that reached mid-calf and from the looks of it, he also had shin-guards tied around his legs.

Looking to the others they noticed each wore a similar attire, except for another woman that stood to the right of the man with his head down. She had mint-green hair that had been done-up into a short crew cut that spiked near the front. Her ears were pierced with red beads, and she had a tan skin tone. The ninja could see one of her eyes and noticed she had a pair of solid, bright orange eyes. Her features were surprisingly feminine despite her rough looking appearance. She wore an outfit similar to Tayuya's except she wore a cloak over her shoulders and her helmet tucked underneath her arm. On her hips she had two short, wide blades.

"So it's settled then," the man who's back was to them spoke, his voice was deep and carried a tone of authority, "once Gaara is returned we'll send a small clutch of men north to speak with Roshi and Han, our next move will depend upon their response to our offer." The man's response was a series of firm nods from those that stood around him.

"Then you are all dismissed; I have another matter that requires my immediate attention."

All those around the table walked in the direction of the exit, forcing the group standing there to move aside to let them pass. As the mint-haired woman passed them she paused mid-step and turned to Tayuya. When she spoke, the Leaf ninja were once again surprised by the smooth flow of her voice.

"Looks like you managed to survive again Tayuya, I'm surprised you managed to handle such an assignment without the Imperator there to hold your hand."

The red-head gave an unrefined snort, "Feh, says the girl who had her legs spread open for him the other night; I'm surprised you manage to even make it your tent by yourself without him carrying you there on his-"

"Tayuya, that's enough. Fu, I've given command that you leave us, so why do you seem to be lingering while the rest of the men have already filed out?"

The now identified Fu turned and bowed in the man's direction, "Apologies Imperator, I did not mean to disobey you in front of your guests."

"That does not remove the deed now, leave us, we will discuss your punishment later."

Fu bowed again, and made a quick exit so as not to anger her leader any further than she already had. Once the room was quiet again, Kakashi spoke up.

"Excuse me, but, we of the Leaf village have come to ask for your assistance."

"...yes, I was wondering when this day would come. Ironic really, when you think about it." This confused the Jounin of the group.

"Um, what do you mean by that sir?" Was Kurenai's reply.

The man stood at full height, revealing that he was indeed 6ft, and also showing off a head of short, blonde hair. Next, he turned, and revealed himself to those that had yet to meet the man known as the 'Imperator'. The group from Konoha stood stunned by the transformation, but his cobalt-blue eyes were as steely as ever.

Standing before them was Naruto Uzumaki.

**xxxxxxxxxx**

_A/N: Hey! I'm terribly sorry for the extremely long wait, know that it wasn't my intention to make you guys wait so long for these chapters. Now, I know the one before this didn't have much more added to it, but I just didn't feel right leaving it the way I did for the preview (which I should have only had them go up to the end of the bandit mission lol) _

_So, in case anyone is wondering: I didn't make the legionaries super O.P. Because that would be BORING! Also, the Akatsuki are all S-ranked criminals so of course they are going to be difficult to defeat. Speaking of Akatsuki, the reason Sasori's seemed more entertaining was because I always considered him better than Deidara; and he had more to work with besides throwing explosives, which is basically all Deidara really does in his fights. _

_Deidara's death was to point out something that bothers me a lot: when the hero or villain just LETS the other person perform their attack when they could just kill them! Another thing about the battle with Deidara was to pint out a major weakness in Naruto's army; they don't do so well against aerial combatants. Now, this is mostly because in the whole show their really aren't that many people who fight that way, nor did Caesar himself actually have to really face anything like that._

_Well, there's the new chapters. I hope you like them, and I'll do my best to not make you wait so long again. As always, feel free to PM me or leave a review letting me know your thoughts, they are always welcome. Yes, even the few flames I've received lol._


	13. Quomodo vos coniecturam Caesar?

Rise, Son Of Rome

Ch. 13- **Quomodo vos coniecturam Caesar?**

**(How do you gauge Caesar?)**

The members of the Konoha squad looked at the man in front of them with wide eyes. Was this really Naruto?

The blonde stood as tall as Jiraiya, towering over each of them; even Kakashi. His build, although mostly hidden away by his armor, was shown through his muscular arms that were folded across his chest. Naruto's face had matured as well; no longer were there traces of baby fat, he now stood chiseled and stern. The blondes hair was no longer wild and unkempt, rather, it was trimmed down and layered. Looking into the older Uzumaki's eyes they saw they had hardened from years of battle, they held a more calculating look than any of them remembered. Around his neck he still wore the necklace he'd won off of Tsunade.

"Well, you said Tsunade had an offer for me, so let's hear it. I have more important things to do than stand here talking to you lot." The sharp tone brought the ninja out of there mindless gawking and back to the present moment. Kakashi, being the one who brought it up, spoke for the squad.

"You're right, sorry, it's just that...well, can you blame us for being surprised? We haven't seen you in years and now here you are, looking nothing like we remember."

Naruto moved over to a table, filled a small cup with something and then said, "And what were you expecting if and when you saw me again Hatake? Did you expect me to remain the short, weak fool you took on as a student?"

Shikamaru saw that his superior had begun to back himself into a corner, so he stepped forward and said, "Naruto, we didn't come here to anger you. Like Kakashi said, Tsunade would like to ask for your assistance."

Naruto took a drink from his cup before he replied, "As any leading figure, I would expect you all to refer to me in a respectful manner, so I must ask that you do not use _that _name."

This time it was Anko who asked, "And what name should we call you by then?"

"Simple, you shall refer to me by the name of Caesar."

Each of the Jounin suddenly thought back to the information Tsunade had shown them involving Wave country; including the temple dedicated to a man named Caesar. For Kurenai, it put everything into perspective.

"The mission we went on...when you went off on your own, you found those ruins and that temple didn't you; Tazuna was the one who told you about them. And _that's_ why you refused to take anybody with you, you didn't want it reported back to the Leaf."

Naruto smirked before he stalked over to stand in front of the raven-haired beauty, the height difference causing the Jounin to crane her neck to look into the young Roman's eyes.

"Yes, I could not risk having anyone snoop around and try to deny me the knowledge of my heritage; as you and the rest of the village would surely have done. Though it made little difference in the end; you peoples unfounded fear of me saw me cast out in the end anyway."

Kakashi looked down in shame at the harsh truth, while the two kunoichi looked uncertain how to feel; Anko not really knowing the kid, and Kurenai with her belief that the blonde was an unhealthy influence on her once favorite student.

"But that is all part of the past now, and what's done cannot be undone. Now, enough of that, tell me what your Hokage would have of me."

Kakashi had regained enough composer to speak and replied, "Lady-Tsunade asks that you invest in the village. Konoha was hit hard after you left and we haven't really been able to come back. Our major shipping contacts have been cut, so we aren't able to move nearly enough merchandise to cover our expenses and with so many villages wary of Konoha's integrity we don't pull in many missions either. The Hokage humbly asks that you supply us with clients, and allow us to use your ports."

Naruto stepped away from Kurenai and paced over to his strategy table, where he proceeded to take another drink from his cup before asking, "And what does honored Caesar gain from such an arrangement? From what I can see, there is no benefit for me or my people."

"Not true, you would receive military support during times of war and a cut from whatever profit we make using your ports."

"Yes, I already knew that, but beyond those your village really has nothing to give me that I cannot find elsewhere."

For a moment nobody said anything. While the Leaf Jounin feared the alliance was going to fail, Tayuya, who had remained silent, could see that her Imperator was planning something.

"Perhaps, if I were to return with you to Konoha, the Hokage and I could discuss more favorable terms and see this alliance to fruition."

Each of the Jounin let out a silent breath at the blondes proposal; they hadn't succeeded, but they hadn't failed. Shikamaru, on the other hand, had the same mind as Tayuya; Naruto was planning something. The Nara heir knew that his fellow Roman would sooner cut off his own hand than return to his former village of his own free will.

Deciding to put those thoughts aside for later, Shikamaru voiced a question he'd held on to, "Caesar, I heard that you wanted to speak with _me _specifically; would now be an appropriate time to do so?"

Upon hearing his new name Naruto smirked before replying, "We can, but only if your friends agree to give us some privacy. What I hoped to discuss does not involve them."

Although the trio of Jounin were curious about what it could be that the two men had to talk about, they also understood that Naruto had the home-field advantage, and that the alliance depended upon the blonde coming back with them. So, complying with Naruto's silent demand, the Jounin left the tent.

Once they were gone Naruto turned to Tayuya, "Go check on Gaara, and come back to me with a report on his state of health."

The red-head understood that this was her Imperator's nice way of saying 'get out', so Tayuya saluted her leader, and then she too exited the tent.

Seeing that all other ears had left them alone, Naruto returned to his table, filled two cups with liquid, and offering one to Shikamaru began to speak, "It's been a long time friend, I can see the years have been kind to you."

Taking the offered cup Shikamaru replied, "Yes, I made sure to take my training seriously in preparation for this day. I see that the rumors I heard were true, and you have indeed begun to Romanize the the Elemental Nations."

"Yes, many are unaware of what has truly begun. They have yet to understand that I'm not just creating a new Hidden Village, but a single empire that will soon replace the separate countries. And it is _that _subject that I was hoping to speak with you about."

The Nara heir took a sip from his drink, and discovered that it was wine. Although not much for drinking, Shikamaru chose to keep the cup and replied, "Is it time to reform the Triumvirate?"

"Regrettably, no, that day has not yet arrived. But it will be soon, in the coming days, and you can help hasten its arrival with this favor I intend to ask you." With his reasoning out in the open, Naruto polished off his drink, poured another, and waited for Shikamaru's response.

The pony-tailed chunin looked at his friend with a curious stare. While it was Shikamaru's hope to reform their ancestors empire, the Nara heir had yet to learn just _how_ the newly named Caesar planned to do it. Letting his curiosity guide him Shikamaru asked, "And what would you need from me to hasten such a days arrival?"

When Naruto smiled, Shikamaru was reminded of a wolf getting ready to devour its prey.

oo0oo

As the two Romans conversed, the Jounin of Konoha followed Tayuya to the tent where she had ordered Gaara be taken.

"What do you think those two are talking about," questioned Anko.

Kakashi, who had refrained from pulling out his porn for fear of insulting the soldiers, replied, "I'm not sure. Although, considering they went to the academy together, and now are seeing each other for the first time in years I'm guessing Naru—Caesar is curious about how his classmates have handled themselves during his absents."

_'More like plotting some manner of scheme',_ thought Kurenai to herself; the ruby-eyed beauty still held a particular distaste for the blonde. It wasn't that she thought Naruto was an enemy, she just didn't feel comfortable with the way he conducted himself. That and he had corrupted Hinata in Kurenai's eyes.

"The Imperator's discussion with the Nara heir are nothing any of you need concern yourselves with. When there's something you need to know, he'll tell you", came Tayuya's commentary from a few steps ahead.

As they passed by a gap between tent huddles the Leaf ninja noticed something out of the corner of their eyes. Turning to look, the trio were shocked by what they saw.

There, in the camp, was a man on his knees tied to a wooden cross that had been stuck in the ground. From the looks of it he was a soldier; if his lower-body attire was anything to go off of. He was surrounded by other soldiers, most likely those in his legion, and was having another solider speaking directly to those that were watching. But the thing that caught their attention was the fact that, this man had his torso bare, and was having his back flogged. The Jounin could see a series of open lacerations along his back that were bleeding, and multiple red spots that indicated more possible wounds if the flogging continued.

It was then the Leaf ninja realized...the man wasn't screaming in pain. The soldier was silent; as if he weren't in the middle of being whipped.

Tayuya had noticed that the trio of ninja had stopped following her, turned, and saw what they were staring at. "That man disobeyed a direct order from his Centurion during battle; the fact that he was drunk, and punched his superior in the face didn't help his case either. So, as punishment, he's being flogged."

Kakashi and his fellow Jounin listened in shock. Sure, there were some ninja that disobeyed orders, but they weren't _flogged_, they were suspended or docked mission pay!

"Is this a common occurrence around here," Kurenai questioned.

"No," Tayuya replied, "like I said, the soldier was drunk; and that's not normal either. But, I know that particular soldier, his name is Titus Pullo, and he has a knack for getting himself into this kind of trouble."

Kakashi turned away from the bizarre sight and asked, "But if this guy is a constant annoyance in your forces, why doesn't Naru- Caesar, just dismiss him?"

Tayuya snorted, "Feh, because Pullo is an honest and loyal soldier. That guy is a devoted Roman through and through, and has an exceptional amount of skill even by legionary standard; why would the Imperator get rid of him just because sometimes he likes to have a little fun?"

"So is flogging the punishment for a crime here in camp?"

"There are other punishments, it just depends on what you're being punished for. Now enough wasting time, I don't want to get into anymore trouble than I already am because you three idiots keep distracting me with all your ridiculous questions."

With that said Tayuya resumed her stride to Gaara's tent, and this time, the trio of Jounin stayed right behind her.

It didn't take them long to reach the tent and when they did the Leaf ninja noticed that, again, there were guards stationed around the perimeter; although given the occupant of the tent they weren't surprised. As they began to make their way to the entrance, Cassius stepped out of the tent and noticed them.

"What are they still doing here, I figured the Imperator would have shooed them away or killed them by now?"

Ignoring the Jounin's shocked look Tayuya replied, "Imperator Caesar has agreed to return to Konoha with them to discuss terms of forming an alliance. At the moment, the Imperator is speaking with the Nara heir so he commanded that I bring him word on the Kazekage's condition."

Cassius just sent the trio from Konoha a skeptical look and, never taking his eyes off them, said, "Very well, although I can't imagine what Caesar could gain from these..._people."_

The manner in which the Roman had referred to them, as if they were uncivilized, caused the three elite ninja to send him annoyed looks. But Kakashi pushed that aside to say, "You never know Cassius, we of the Leaf may have more to offer than you think."

The older man just scoffed and began to stride away, as he was passing them Cassius threw over his shoulder, "Of that, I highly doubt."

Once Cassius was out of earshot Kurenai looked over to Tayuya and asked, "What's his problem, does he have a low opinion of ninja?"

"No...he has a low opinion of _Leaf _ninja; as does the rest of the legions. Word carried fast about what your village did to Caesar, so you can't really blame all the people who think highly of him for not liking any of you." With that the red-head began to walk into the tent, silently dismissing any further questions.

Once inside, the quartet were greeted with the site of Gaara sitting up on a raised cot. The red-headed Kazekage's torso had been bared so that the medics could attend to the wounds he suffered during his battle with Deidara, and he had bandage wraps wound around his hands, right shoulder, and his upper-chest.

Noticing the new occupants of his tent Gaara turned and addressed them, "Thank you for rescuing me Tayuya, and I ask that you give my thanks to Caesar as well when you return to him, and inform him that I'm alright."

Tayuya bowed, "Your gratitude is much appreciated Lord Kazekage, but unnecessary, you are one of the Imperator's closest friends and we would all gladly risk our lives again to come to your aid."

Grunting in pain, Gaara lifted himself off the bed and to his feet. Slowly shuffling over to his fellow red-head Gaara asked, "Very well, if not gratitude, then perhaps you will accept and answer a question for me?"

"Of course."

Gaara turned his eyes to the trio of Leaf ninja, and the Jounin were shocked to see a hard stare greet them. "What are these ninja doing in Caesar's camp? Surely you remember how he feels about the people of..._that _village."

"Actually, Lord Kazekage, we aided your rescuers in your safe return. In fact, I personally ended the life of Akasuna no Sasori," came Kurenai's curt reply. The raven-haired beauty was becoming agitated by the constant disrespect; what had Naruto told these people?

"No doubt only _after _he was weakened and off-guard. Your in the bingo book Ms. Yuhi, I've read all about you, and I don't truly believe you alone have the skill to defeat an S-ranked criminal; I don't believe any of you do."

While Kakashi and the two kunoichi sent annoyed looks at the Kazekage, Tayuya just looked between them and the red-headed young man before replying, "The Imperator has agreed to return with them to Konoha to discuss terms of alliance."

"Alliance, with them?"

Tayuya shrugged her shoulders and said, "Unfortunately, that's all I know of the matter. If you wish to understand the Imperator's mind, you'll have to ask the man himself."

Gaara stood there for a moment in thought, he looked between the three Jounin and his savior, before sighing and saying, "No, there won't be any need for that. Knowing him, Caesar has his reasons for returning there, so I trust his judgment."

"Very good, now, return to bed and rest Lord Kazekage; you have to regain your strength so that you may return to your own home."

Heeding the words of the female officer Gaara shuffled back to his cot, and with another grunt from exertion, lifted himself and laid back down. Seeing that her task was finished, Tayuya turned, and exited the tent; the Jounin once again following her.

oo0oo

"...And once they move to intercept that legion there, we'll-"

"Imperator, I bring word of the Kazekage's health."

Tayuya walked into Naruto's tent and was met with the sight of the blonde and Shikamaru standing by a table to the right of the tent, huddled over a map. Naruto, having been interrupted mid-sentence, turned to address the new arrival.

"Very good, and that word would be?"

"The Kazekage is fairing well, he has been bandaged and is now resting, waiting until he his cleared to leave."

Naruto raised an eyebrow in thought and asked, "And he did not wonder about my guests?"

"He did sir, but I informed him of your reasoning, and although he questioned it at first, the Kazekage decided that you must have good reason for trusting the Leaf ninja."

Shikamaru watched the exchange with interest. Tayuya was a foul-mouthed woman, of that there was no doubt, and yet around the Imperator she became respectful and complacent; the pony-tailed young man found it amusing. Looking over to his fellow Roman, Shikamaru was unnerved by the cold look that now covered the blondes face.

Naruto stalked over to his female officer and hissed, "Trust? Tayuya I don't trust the ninja of the Leaf, I would sooner see them ground into _dust _before laying trust in any member of that village again. No, they are merely a means to an end; nothing more, nothing less."

This confused the red-head, "And yet you have men bring reports about -whap-" Tayuya never finished her statement, Naruto's hand found its way across her face, sending the young woman sprawling to the floor.

"Do not speak sound of her name, I ask for those reports solely in deciding what rank she will receive once she rejoins my ranks. As it stands, you may very well find yourself replaced should you question me in such a manner again." Turning to Shikamaru the blonde said, "Leave us." Needing not to be told twice, the Nara heir made his way out of the tent, leaving Imperator and soldier alone.

Down on the floor Tayuya held her bleeding mouth, quietly she mumbled an apology, "Forgive me, I overstep, I was only curious."

Naruto looked down at his soldier and his face softened, kneeling down, the blonde helped wipe the crimson rivulet from the side of Tayuya's lip, before cupping her cheek and saying, "While it is true you've stood by me with unwavering loyalty these past three years, you must remember that does not give you the authority to question me in front of guests."

Although the side of her face stung from the impact of Naruto's slap Tayuya reveled in the warm, gentle touch of her Imperator's hand. It was rough from years of training and battle, and much larger than her own, but through their time together Tayuya learned that those hands that could end a man's life, were also capable of great affection.

The red-head didn't get long to feel her leader's affection, because as soon as it appeared it was gone, and Naruto was standing tall waiting for Tayuya to do the same. Looking up, and seeing that he had become serious, Tayuya stood and asked, "Will there be anything else you require of me?"

"Yes, with all the unexpected guests I've failed to hear your report on the rescue mission."

"Right. We arrived at the entrance ahead of schedule and found, like our scouts said, that it was defended by a powerful seal. I was quick to recognize the seal, as it was a design created by Orochimaru, and informed Cassius that there were several other seals that needed to be removed in order to gain entrance into the Akatsuki's cave."

Naruto followed the story closely, taking particular interest in the seal design, before saying, " That's when you took the legions to destroy them, and it was during that time that the Leaf ninja arrived, correct?"

"Yes, we arrived to see they had just gotten to the scene. After a brief exchange of words we brought down the barrier and revealed the entrance to the Akatsuki's cave; soon after the battle started."

"Was there anything in particular about this battle you feel I should know?"

"This battle, Imperator, confirms that we will need to begin creation of an archery unit; we almost were unable to defeat Deidara. While aerial assaults are uncommon, they still exist, and I believe that we should have a special unit developed specifically for those select ninja."

The blonde Roman nodded in understanding. During his readings of Caesar's journals the man mentioned having archers, as well as catapults, that dealt devastating amounts of damage to the Roman's enemies. Naruto himself had thought archers unnecessary now, but then, he'd been wrong about the casting-off of ninjutsu...so maybe he should re-think this as well.

"Very well, we'll see what we can muster together for the time being, was their anything else?"

Tayuya though over what she'd seen and heard, and then remembered something, "Yes, one of the member's; Sasori, showcased an interesting level of fear towards his leader. Apparently, he would rather die in battle than return to the Akatsuki leader in failure."

"Hmm, whoever their leader is, he must be powerful then if even someone like Sasori fears him. What else?"

"Well, about that women, Anko..."

While Naruto received Tayuya's report, the Jounin of Konoha were waiting outside the tent, questioning Shikamaru.

"Did he show any indication that he might turn his army on the village," asked Kurenai.

"Hardly, Caesar showed very little interest in Konoha, his sights are set on heading into Kumo." This news interested Shikamaru's superiors.

Kakashi asked, "And what's in Cloud that's managed to catch his interest?"

"I don't see why it matters, Kumo and our village aren't exactly close Kakashi. Besides, even if we knew _what _he was after, what could we possibly do with the information?"

Kakashi saw the Nara heir's point. It wasn't like they could ask Kumo to hand over whatever it was Naruto was after, and telling the Raikage wouldn't lead anywhere because the man wouldn't believe them. "I see, was there anything else Naruto may have told you Shikamaru?"

"_Caesar_ and I spent more time catching up than speaking about his plans for the future Kakashi. And why so curious, what are you so afraid of?"

This time it was Kurenai who responded, "Shikamaru you know what we're afraid of, _if _that man in there sets his army on the village there won't be much of it left standing, we aren't prepared for such an assault."

"-sigh- Let me ask you something; why would he be willing to come back to Konoha with us if he's just going to grind us into dust later, it's counter-productive."

Kurenai couldn't argue with that fact so she stepped down and closed her argument. Through it all Anko hadn't spoken, only watched, using the teaching of Orochimaru and her time in the I.T. division to gauge Shikamaru's words; and what she found interested her.

The young man had been lying, about what she couldn't tell, but he had lied to their faces.

Before anymore words could be broken, Naruto and Tayuya exited the man's tent; the blonde now donning his helmet and cloak . The ninja from the Leaf noticed the mark on Tayuya's face but said nothing; Shikamaru because he knew what happened, and the Jounin because they understood it wasn't their pace to say anything. Naruto looked to the ninja and said, "When you're ready we can leave."

Naruto sent Tayuya to fetch his personal guard before sending one of the men outside his tent to get his horse. When Kakashi heard this he spoke up, "Um, Caesar, wouldn't it be faster to travel through the trees?"

The blonde looked at him and said, "Not really, my horse is special, and besides I don't remember any leader ever arriving to another leader's village without proper form." As he said this the legionary he'd sent off returned with his horse. Naruto's horse was pure white, not a spot or discoloration anywhere, even the mane was pure as newly fallen snow. On its back it carried a saddle made from black leather. The animal was well built, showing that it was indeed specifically bred for speed, and had a pair of shockingly blue eyes.

Naruto walked over to his horse. The soldier who'd brought it got down on his hands and knees, and allowed is Imperator to step on him so as to place himself on the horse. The Jounin watched this and were a little put-off by the blondes treatment of his soldiers; only Shikamaru noticed that the legionary didn't mind. Once atop his horse, Naruto turned his head and just looked off. Finally the ninja got curious and looked also; they were met with another interesting sight.

The blondes personal guard consisted of a handful of men and Tayuya. Each man wore the plated armor, but each had a cloak hanging from their shoulders, and their chest-plates were each adorned with decorations of an eagle with extended wings in the middle of a strange reef and the letters S.P.Q.R written over-top. These men also had metal bracers that bore the same symbol, and their blade sheaths were etched with different decorations for each man. The ninja noticed that these men's helmets also had the red plume, but it stretched horizontally, rather than vertically. Each man also carried a shield.

"Ninja of the Leaf," Naruto spoke in pride, "it gives me great honor to introduce to you the Centurio Septem; my personal guard." Each Centurion moved into place so that three stood on either side of Naruto's horse and one stood directly in back, while Tayuya stood in front.

"Not that these men aren't impressive, but should they not be given horses as well, so that our journey doesn't take longer than necessary," asked Kurenai.

Naruto just smirked down at the raven-haired beauty and replied, "Oh, don't worry about them, worry more about being able to keep up." With that, the blonde directed his horse towards the entrance to the camp. As Naruto and his guard moved forward the ninja just shrugged and followed behind, once they got to the forest edge the blonde Roman spoke up again.

"Legionaries, formation!" The soldiers surrounding him spread out into a wider defense, so as to give his horse room to run. Looking behind him at the ninja he said, "Now, let us see who outruns who." Snapping the reigns for his horse, the white riding animal riled up on its back legs before it, and the soldiers, shot off into the forest.

The ninja looked on for a moment in surprise, no expecting what they just witnessed. It was Anko's loud, sudden laughter that brought them back to earth.

"Hahahaha that kid's too much, I love it. Well, no use standing around here, let's go!" And she too rocketed forward, chasing down the group that had just left. Once the Special-Jounin was out of site, the rest of the ninja followed soon after, wishing not to be left behind.

oo0oo

The trip had taken three days with the pace Naruto and his guard set. During the night when everyone would rest, the ninja were surprised when Naruto slept up against a tree while his guards took turns watching over their Imperator. Unfortunately for Kakashi and Kurenai, this meant that they were unable to discuss Naruto out in the open, for fear of a Centurion relaying the message to the blonde.

During the days the ninja were again astounded at the speed the Roman's could move, being able to keep up with even Kakashi's speed; although the silver-haired man guessed it was only certain soldiers capable of such a feat. There was also the matter of Naruto's horse, where had he managed to find such a creature, able to go for such a long period of time at such intense speed?

The Copy-Ninja had summarized that Naruto's Roman military was built much like the ninja villages. He had low ranked officers that were equal in title to genin, mid-ranked officers equal to chunin, and then soldiers like the ones in his guard that made up his Jounin; Kakashi wondered if the blonde also had a form of ANBU as well. The problem was, Kakashi couldn't really tell the overall skill-level of these soldiers, seeing as the only time he'd seen them in combat was in a large force. The elite ninja wondered how, individually, a single man would fare against one of the Leaf's ninja from each rank?

On the last day, during the final stretch of road, Naruto reigned in his horse to a slow trot. The riding animal gave a grateful whine before beginning its well deserved rest. Along with the horse Naruto's legionaries also slowed, tightening their defensive formation and walking alongside their commander. The Leaf ninja had ran past them, and were forced to halt and wait for the Romans to catch up.

Once both parties were in sync again Kakashi asked, "What's with the slow pace, the village it right up ahead?"

Naruto didn't even look at the man as he replied, "Remember what I said, about proper form? How would it look if I came barreling down the road like a madman; I would think you could understand why I've chosen to return to such a speed."

While it made sense, Kakashi and his fellow Jounin were anxious to return home. They didn't care much for how it looked to others, but remembered that this alliance was crucial for the villages survival, so they complied wit the blondes wishes.

At there pace it took another hour to reach the village gates. When they did, Izumo and Kotetsu were shocked to see the additions to the returning ninja's squad. Neither chunin had ever seen warriors like the ones that stood before them, the sun shined down on the soldiers armor, giving them an otherworldly glow. The man atop the horse was especially intimidating.

"Team Kakashi reporting in from the rescue mission. During the mission we also happened to run into an important guest I think the Hokage would be glad to meet." The former ANBU captain motioned to Naruto, who was sweeping the street in front of him with a calculating stare.

The two guards simply nodded dumbly before radioing Shizune and informing her of the Hokage's impending guests. Once they received the go-ahead, the two chunin gave Kakashi the nod, and watched as the group moved through the city.

As the ninja and the Romans moved through Konoha's streets the civilians were forced to move aside to make room for Naruto and his horse. While many were in awe of the Romans, there were some that got annoyed with how little regard they seemed to have for the "little guy".

Naruto saw this, but chose deliberately to ignore it, what did it matter to him if these people didn't like him? Soon, he'd be master of the entire continent, then they would either love him or die in defiance. Along the way to the Hokage's tower, the group passed by the Yamanaka flower shop. As Naruto strode passed he glanced over and briefly locked eyes with a blonde that was sweeping the front of the store.

The young woman had platinum-blonde hair pulled back into a pony-tail that reached past her behind, and a single bang that covered her right eye. She was garbed in civilian-style clothing, a brown tank-top and khaki pants, but Naruto could see the muscle that came from rigorous training when she moved the broom.

If not for the eyes, Naruto may not have recognized her; it was Ino. The young Roman could see that the girl who had once been a lowly pawn had become someone that may be capable of standing among his troops in battle. It was then his blue eyes caught a flash of pink.

Looking to Ino's left, Naruto noticed another young woman standing in front of the shop staring at him. This time the recognition was instant, but only because he only knew one kunoichi with pink hair; Sakura. However, with her drastic change in appearance, Naruto was left to wonder what had caused the Haruno girl to take her ninja career more seriously?

As fast as they reached the shop the group passed it by, and they continued on their way to the Hokage tower.

Back at the shop, Ino watched as the large group moved towards the Hokage Tower. She stood frozen in front of her family's store.

She'd been given time off from missions due to Shikamaru being sent out, so Ino picked up more time at the flower shop. Incidentally, Sakura too had been given time off because Kakashi had been sent on the same mission as Shikamaru, so the pinkette usually came to keep Ino company during her hours at the store.

The two had patched up their own rivalry with their mutual dislike of Hinata, and were quickly returning to their former level of friendship. At the time, Sakura had been telling Ino about a new technique she'd learned that allowed the user to effectively blind an opponent, when the platinum-blonde felt a strange pull. Following that pull, the young kunoichi locked eyes with a man who was moving through the street on a horse.

Although it had been years since she'd last laid eyes on him, Ino recognized her Master instantly. She noticed that his armor had been replaced, and from the dust and scrapes she could see that the blonde male had indeed been in many battles. Ino took notice that Naruto's face had chiseled out and his arms had gotten bigger. As soon as the spell took hold it was over, as her master continued forward.

Sakura, who had noticed her friends lack of attention, shook the girl's shoulder, "Ino, are you even listening to me anymore? What's gotten into-" then she too noticed the group. She vaguely remembered seeing armor like the one worn by the man on the horse, but couldn't place where. Instead, she turned to continue her conversation with Ino...only to find that the girl was no longer there.

oo0oo

The rest of the ride was uneventful for Naruto, and he soon found himself at the doors to the tower; the blonde threw his leg over the side of his horse and hopped down to the ground. With a quick hand signal, Tayuya was at is side and the rest of Naruto's guard loosened their formation. After getting the okay from the guards at the door to enter, Naruto's Centurions stayed behind, while the rest of the group moved inside.

They swiftly made their way up the stairs and were soon standing outside the Hokage's private office. Kakashi knocked gently on the door to alert Tsunade of their presence, when the woman called for them to enter Tayuya shoved the Jounin aside and pulled open the oak doors in a grandiose fashion before strolling forward.

Tayuya slapped her fist over her chest, then saluted into the air and said, "Introducing his Imperial Majesty, the undefeated son of Venus; Gaius Julius Caesar." As she finished her introduction the female warrior stepped to the side and snapped to attention, giving the sitting pig-tailed blonde a clear view of the man that strode in next.

Tsunade was in awe of the figure that stood before her. She could hardly believe that the shrimpy little blonde that had won her necklace had transformed into the powerful man that was now in her office. With shaky legs the female Hokage stood from her chair and made her way around her desk, until finally, Tsunade stood face-to-face with the blonde soldier.

With Naruto's new height Tsunade was also forced to look up as she said, "Naruto...is it really you?"

The young Roman turned his cobalt-blue eyes downward so as to look the woman in the eye and replied, "I ask that you refer to me in the professional sense Lady-Tsunade, as I no longer adhere to that name."

Hearing the professional tone threw Tsunade for a loop; Naruto's look obviously hadn't been the only thing that changed. Clearing her throat she said, "Forgive me, I...it's just been so long, and you've changed so much, that I just couldn't believe it."

"Your apology is accepted, and you're right, it has been years since we've seen each other Lady-Tsunade; and yet you still manage to look so radiant."

Tsunade's eyes widened in shock, but then narrowed when the blondes face broke into a slick grin. The buxom blonde slapped her hand across Naruto's cuirass and saying, "And you're still the same mischievous little twerp as always."

While it was nice to see his mother-figure again, Naruto had arrived in Konoha with a purpose, and it was time to begin his part. Clearing his throat the blonde said, "While it is great to see you again, I'm here strictly for business I'm afraid; I was told you wish to form an alliance with me?"

The pig-tailed blonde walked back behind her desk and sat down in her chair, "That's correct, I'm sure my squad has already informed you of the Leaf's struggles over the last three years, we're in desperate need of assistance."

"Yes, but, as I've already brought up; what do my people and I gain from this? The military power isn't enough to be significant in battle and the income from taxes amounts to lunch money, so while I'd like to help you Lady-Tsunade, I see no reason to."

Tsunade steepled her fingers in front o her face and sat for a moment. Her mind ran through every conceivable offer she could make, but none seemed good enough to draw in Naruto's aid. As Tsunade's mind raced, it suddenly ground to a halt at a certain thought, "What did those other countries have to offer that interested you?"

"They offered things I needed at the time; things such as soldiers, contracts, political influence. Every place I've annexed was a crucial building block for creating the Eagle."

The last offer sparked a thought in Tsunade's mind, "As one of the five major villages in the Elemental Country we have substantial political influence. Even with the hits we've taken, there are still those who see Konoha as a major power; and with your aid that number will grow, as will your benefit."

Naruto folded his arms across his chest and lowered his head in thought; after a moment he began to pace. It was a few minutes before he stopped and said, "I'd rather not make such a decision in haste, would it be possible for me to remain within the village for a few days and speak with you once I've sorted everything out?"

"W-Well, I suppose so, although I hope you understand that the village Council will need to be present during our meeting now don't you?"

"Yes, and while I don't prefer it, if policy dictates it must be so then who am I to argue?"

Tsunade scrambled through the papers on her desk until she found what she was looking for, a document that granted political asylum, she stamped it and handed it to Naruto while saying, "This will help you to avoid being given any trouble should anyone find out that it's you underneath that helmet. While you may be the leader of a massive political power, you're still an exiled ninja of the Leaf."

Naruto handed the paper to Tayuya before saying, "Very well, and am I correct in guessing I'll be staying in the village embassy?"

"Yes, I can call Shizune and-"

"That won't be necessary Lady-Hokage," Shikamaru's voice called from behind Naruto, "I can take him there myself; we didn't get a chance to finish catching up."

Tsunade looked over to the Nara heir, and after a moment of thinking, she nodded and dismissed the two men. Once the two Roman descendants and Tayuya exited the office, the buxom Hokage set her eyes on the three Jounin still present and said, "Now, what else do you have to report?"

Kakashi stepped forward as the leader of the squad and gave his report, "We've seen first hand some of what the Eagle's military is capable of Hokage-Sama, they were there before we'd arrived, and had been the ones to bring down the Akatsuki's defenses. Immediately afterwards they engaged the member known as Deidara in battle and defeated him."

"Can you describe anything specific you may have seen Kakashi?"

"They fight in groups ma'am. Although we none of us really got to see the battle against Deidara, we got glimpses of their style when the soldiers battled Sasori's puppet army. The men formed up into squares, and used their shields to direct the enemy into a position that was easier for them to defend against. From what I could see, they were each proficient in kenjutsu, and preferred stabbing to slashing when it came to their strikes."

Tsunade took all of this in. Although she trusted Naruto, she understood that it would look odd if she didn't ask for details surrounding his new group. "Was there anything else?"

"Yes, their shields ma'am, they were able to absorb attacks."

This was shocking to the female Hokage, because only Haru no Kuni had been said to have developed such technology; and even then it had only been speculation. But then Tsunade remembered sending Team 7 on the mission to Spring, and reading the report that they had indeed encountered such devices. _'It seemed that Naruto payed a visit to Princess Yuki during his three years away from the Leaf.'_

"Explain," she said in a stern voice.

"From what I could glimpse with my sharingan, the shields were capable of absorbing all of the flames Sasori's puppets projected at them, they emitted a faint, blue glow while they were in use; other than that, I don't know anything else about the men Naruto has following him."

Tsunade let her Jounin's words sink in. Being not only the Elemental Nation's leading medical expert, but also a relative to the Uzumaki's, the buxom blonde had studied the ancient world. Tsunade understood that, if Naruto was gearing towards resurrecting the Roman empire, then his new brand of legionaries would have to live up to the standard set by those of the past; meaning his army was extremely deadly. While this didn't worry Tsunade herself, she knew that the village Council would be in a state of defensive aggression, and either try to bribe the young Uzumaki or attempt some foolish form of pre-emptive attack.

Deciding on her next course of action, Tsunade said, "Very well Kakashi, thank you. You three are dismissed."

With quick bows the three Jounin exited via body-flicker, leaving the Sannin to her thoughts.

oo0oo

While Tsunade was wondering about what to do with the information given to her, the man that was responsible for her deep thinking was riding through the streets below, with his friend walking along beside, and his guard circling them. Naruto was currently telling Shikamaru about one of the many battles he had been in.

"...so Ginta attempted to encircle me; his foot-soldiers coming at us from the front, and having his cavalry come at me from behind. It was a commendable effort but the tactic was too obvious, it was amateurish, and I'd been expecting it. So what I had done, before the battle had started, was pull one of my legions and form them into an entire fleet of new cavalry to combat this. I ordered them to advance the moment Ginta executed his maneuver. From there, it was simply a matter of turning my rear soldiers around, and beating Ginta's men back from both sides."

"So I was right, you were the one who lead the revolt in Bird Country," Shikamaru said in realization.

Tayuya turned her head to address the Nara male and said, "Why are you so surprised fool, did you think the Imperator was just going to sit on his ass after this backwater village cut him loose?"

Shikamaru sent the red-head a scowl and replied, "Obviously not, but to be able to defeat someone like Ginta when you're outnumbered 3;1 is impressive."

"Feh, if you think that's impressive, just wait until you see what he has planned next."

After that the group fell into silence for a time. While they walked, Naruto looked around him to take in the sites of the village he once called home;he was thoroughly unimpressed.

He saw that the village, while still in good repair, was less lively than he remembered. The people in the streets weren't walking at a hurried pace to make it to the next store, and many of them were devoid of joy. Those with children weren't calling out or chasing after their young, instead, the kids were shuffling along beside their parents; most likely, they knew their parents weren't going to be able to afford whatever they begged them for, so they didn't even bother. Store owners that Naruto remembered used to stand in their doorways and shout sales or seasonal items were instead, sitting at their counters, with their hands over their heads in sorrow.

As he looked upon the people of Konoha the young descendant of Caesar felt no form of sorrow or remorse for them. Instead, he felt a sense of ruthless elation at seeing the once proud village reduced to a hollow shell of its former glory. Through his years of exile, Naruto never forgave the Leaf for abandoning him out of petty fear, but also thanked the village for it. The Council's actions, coupled with his treatment as a child, opened up the blondes eyes to the truth that the image of Konoha in his mind wasn't the one that really existed; it wasn't a shining kingdom of compassion and greatness, but a breeding ground for greed and self-centeredness. Naruto realized that many in Konoha cared only for their own well-being.

This lead Naruto to the decision that, when he was re-establishing his empire, that the young Roman would grind Konoha into the ground and leave it as a warning for any who would dare follow in its footsteps. There would be no place in his empire for people like the citizens of Konoha!

**xxxxxxxx**

_A/N: And there it is, the next chapter in Rise. I tried to stretch this one out after Naruto's thoughts on what the Leaf had become, but it just felt so...forced, and I didn't want to give you guys mediocre work. This one felt a little lack luster to me after the last one, but then I guess they can't all be filled with battle, some must be used as set-up for later. You didn't really get to see anybody here, but I'll be making the next chapter longer to make use of Naruto's handful of days in Konoha. During which, he'll be reunited with certain characters that will begin to play a larger role._


	14. Nullum est vinculum

Rise, Son Of Rome

Ch.14- **Nullum est vinculum**

**(No stronger bond...)**

As Naruto and his group made their way to the embassy, across the village in the hospital a certain Hyuga heiress was busy mending the broken arm of a patient.

"...and there you go Mr. Nakamura, good as new, although I recommend that you don't attempt to re-shingle your roof without the aid of your son."

The older man sitting on the examination table just chuckled and said, "That boy's too busy chasing skirts to bother helping his old man, and besides, I've got to keep the spring in my step well polished; or risk turning into one of the old fools in the nursing home."

Hinata just smiled at her patients reasoning and cleared him to leave. As the gentlemen made his exit, the Hokage's apprentice took stock of her room, making sure everything was in order, before she too made her way out.

After her grueling training under Tsunade Hinata was given orders to work inside the village hospital; so as to gain real-life experience in dealing with what she'd studied. The young heiress took to her new mission with vigor and quickly rose in popularity among not only the patients, but also some of the staff. However Hinata didn't let her time at the hospital dull her fighting skills, she made sure to spend her free time keeping up her sword skills as well as finding ways to incorporate chakra-based attacks into her arsenal. Right now, she was headed to her teams usual training ground to engage in "team building".

_'Feh, more like Yuhi-san hopes to find something else she can rip-off and give to Sakura. That woman just refuses to learn.'_ Hinata thought scornfully to herself as she made her way to the forest clearing.

On her way Hinata's mind wandered to thoughts of Naruto, and what he could be doing at that very moment. No doubt the blonde was probably in the middle of some bloody battle, cutting down enemies, the afternoon sun catching his armor just so, as to make it seem like the man was an angel of death come to send all those that stood in his way to the afterlife. Hinata's mind conjured up an image of the two of them fighting side-by-side, and when the battle was over, Naruto ripping her armor away and taking her there on the battleground. Hinata only hoped that when she saw the man again, he'd be so in awe of her skills that he'd forget about her shameful actions in the past.

The young heiress' thoughts were ground to a halt by the loud bark of a dog; it seems she'd arrived. Her pupil-less eyes scanned over her team with mild interest.

Kiba had stayed much the same from when Team 8 had been formed. He'd gotten taller, yes, and he no longer wore a hoodie but besides that Hinata saw that he was still the same brash, ill-tempered show off that he'd been back at the academy. Turning her gaze Hinata felt her eyes soften at the sight of Akamaru; Kiba's ninja-dog. Akamaru had transformed from a tiny puppy into a large dog, big enough to be ridden upon.

Next her eyes landed on Shino. The Aburame had changed in the sense that he had become even more closed off. The young man now wore a hood over his head and kept his hands inside the large pockets of his bulky jacket. Hinata also noted that Shino now said even fewer words than back in the beginning of their ninja careers. The heiress didn't dislike Shino, but she didn't fully trust him either; though that list of people consisted of only three names.

Finally Hinata's eyes turned towards the Jounin of their team; Kurenai Yuhi. A woman who used to be Hinata's closest confidant and friend, until their different views about Naruto forced them apart. Now, Hinata only looked to the woman for mission orders and nothing more.

Kurenai's own ruby-red eyes stared into Hinata's lavender ones for a moment before the Jounin spoke, "Alright you three, it's time for our weekly team building. I know it may seem odd that we keep doing this, what with you three being chunin now, but I'd like for us to never lose the synchronization we've created over the years as a team, for those times where we're all working together in the field."

"So who will start the spars today Kurenai-sensei," asked Kiba.

"Today how about Hinata and I kick things off, if that's okay with her," the raven-haired woman replied as she kept her eyes on the heiress in question.

Hinata was a little surprised by this statement, usually Kurenai had her spar against one of the other two so she could fully see every detail of Hinata's performance, _'Meaning she probably wants to test herself, and prove she's still got some kind of leg up over me.'_

"Alright, I accept."

The two women walked to opposite ends of the field, while the two males moved to the outer edge, and each waited for the other to make a move; Hinata in her gentle-fist stance, Kurenai in a standard defense.

The older kunoichi struck first with a handful of shuriken. As Hinata dodged them she also ducked under a round-house kick sent for her head, and retaliated with an upward palm strike to Kurenai's chin. The Jounin managed to avoid the initial strike, but was caught by a palm to the stomach, which left her open to being placed in a headlock and flipped over Hinata's shoulder, and slamming onto the ground.

Sprawled out on the forest floor Kurenai rolled to avoid a heel-stomp, and countered with a sweep kick. It worked, but Hinata caught herself before hitting the ground, and rolled backwards to avoid another attack. Both women stayed crouched low, but the stare down did not last long, as Hinata unsheathed her left sword and leaped at Kurenai.

Kurenai pulled out a kunai and managed to parry the blow, but when she threw out a left-hook Hinata's reflexes and flexibility came into play as she leaned back to avoid it before going into a handstand and clipping the raven-haired Jounin in the chin with a kick. Once she was upright again, Hinata went for a horizontal slash, but missed when Kurenai leaped back. However this didn't halt the young woman's assault, instead, she let the momentum carry her, and then thrust her left palm in the Jounin's direction,

"_**Air Palm**_!"

The older kunoichi hadn't expected Hinata to be so advanced in her gentle-fist training and was knocked from her feet by the blast of hard wind. With her eyes shut tight in pain Kurenai didn't see Hinata shoot from her spot and appear behind her flying body; but she did feel the clothesline that impacted the back of her neck and slammed her into the ground. Now with her face in the dirt, Kurenai chastised herself for not going all-in at the beginning of the spar. Deciding playtime was over she performed a substitution to escape Hinata's hold.

Now standing a few feet from her fellow kunoichi Kurenai opted for ninjutsu; knowing that Hinata had been training to counteract genjutsu. Flashing through a few quick hand-signs she called out her attack, "_**Fire style: Hono no senbon.**_"

Hinata watched as a haze of bright-orange fire streaked through the air towards her. With the speed they were moving at, the young heiress knew that one option was to use her new technique...but then again, it was always nice to have an ace in the hole. So instead, Hinata slammed her palms to the ground and called out, "_**Earth style: Mud wall**_."

Fire collided with earth and fizzled out, while the flaming projectiles that missed arced down and landed in the grass, frying some of the green and dotting the field with scorch marks. Once Hinata was sure the assault was over she brought down her wall...only to find her opponent gone. Instinct kicked in and she ducked under a kick to the head, before channeling chakra to her fingertips and jamming them into Kurenai's knee. At first, Hinata's face broke into a victorious grin, but then her vision was clouded by smoke as the _**shadow-clone**_dispelled. Activating her byakugan saved the young girl from an uppercut from Kurenai, who had used the _**head-hunter **_jutsu to burrow underground.

While in mid-air Hinata decided to use a jutsu of her own to put her back on the offensive, "_**Mizu no dangan**_!" A series of large shots of water rained down in Kurenai's direction. The older kunoichi saw this and leaped out of the way, stopping on her knee, and retaliating with another hail of shuriken. Hinata, who had begun descending to the ground, danced around the deadly projectiles and landed safely back on her feet.

Kurenai looked over at her former "little sister" and was astounded at the leaps she'd made in the three years of Naruto's absence. While _she_ was already needing to take deep breaths from using the senbon technique and her shadow-clone Hinata stood tall and ready for another assault. Taking a deep breath, Kurenai decided on her next plan of attack, and then struck. Sending chakra to her lower-body she shot forward from her position; her speed amplified by the added chakra, Kurenai came in with a horizontal slash aimed for Hinata's side.

Although surprised by the increase in her sparring partner's speed Hinata still managed to jump back out of the way and avoid taking damage.

_'Alright,' _Hinata thought to herself, _'if Yuhi-san wants to play it this way let's see what she can do.'_ With that, the Hyuga heiress unsheathed her second blade and parried a jab, before striking out with the pommel of her other gladius.

Kurenai leaned her head back to avoid the vicious blow, but was unprepared for when Hinata quickly shifted her balance and turned the failed attack into spin-kick. The raven-haired Jounin tasted the copper flavoring of blood as she bit the inside of her own cheek, but she pushed through the pain and managed to block a rising slash, before countering with a strong headbutt to Hinata's unprotected forehead.

Seeing the attack stunned the younger woman Kurenai went for a hammer-fist to the crown of Hinata's head. Unfortunately for the genjutsu mistress, this failed when her opponent dove through the gap between her enjoined hands, and landed a smarting blow to Kurenai's unprotected chin. Blood flew into the air as the raven-haired beauty's head snapped backwards with a grunt of pain.

Taking full advantage of her new opening Hinata held both her blades in a reverse-grip, and slammed the two pommels against the sides of Kurenai's head. The Jounin unceremoniously crumpled to her knees before falling on her side in unconsciousness.

Hinata looked down at the prone form of her one-time closest friend, before spitting on Kurenai's downed form, and walking away from the training area; she was done with stupid games and wanted a mission.

Kiba and Shino just stood silently, the Inuzuka with his mouth agape, and watched as their once shy team-mate left without word.

oo0oo

While Hinata and Kurenai were having their little squabble, the younger Hyuga heiress was also in a sparring match...however _she _was the one being put through the wringer.

Hanabi ducked under a jab before attempting to land a palm-strike to the mid-section of her sparring partner, but unlike with Hinata's, this one failed to find its mark. Hanabi's opponent grabbed hold of her shoulder with his fingertips and heaved himself over the attack, before landing safely on his feet behind her, and using a sweep-kick to send her face-planting into the ground. Before she could get up the younger Hyuga felt a weight press down on her back, keeping her with her face in the dirt.

"You were too hasty in your assault Hanabi, if you would have been more insightful you would have noticed that I left my chest open for attack as a way to draw you in," came the voice of her sparring partner.

Turning her head so she could respond, and to avoid the possibility of anyone seeing her eating dirt, Hanabi said, "I know Konohamaru, I realized that after you came over my shoulder."

Looking up the youngest daughter of Hiashi took in the sight of the only person she associated with in the academy. Konohamaru had gone from being a bratty little kid, to an annoying replica of her elder sister's crush, to a strong young boy who would one day grow into a powerful warrior. The Sarutobi heir wore a crimson tunic with a brown, leather sword belt strapped around his waist, the strap hanging across his chest. After performing an edited version of his workout regimen Hanabi understood where the young fourteen year old got his muscle tone from. The foot that was pressed on her back was enclosed in a leather sandal, while around his neck Konohamaru wore a length of black rope with his grandfather's signet ring. The young teen still had long hair, and still kept it tied back into a ponytail, but he'd let it be known to Hanabi that there would come a day when he would cut it off.

When pressed for when that day would be, he just looked the young girl in the eye and said, "When I'm called upon to stand beside my brother in battle." That had been during the first few days of her training.

After another afternoon of sitting and watching, Hanabi had swallowed down enough of her Hyuga pride to ask her fellow clan heir to be her sparring partner, in the hopes that she could learn his moves and one day defeat him in class spars; regaining her title as the strongest in class. Konohamaru agreed, but on the condition that Hanabi never question his methods. The young girl almost broke that rule during the first fifteen minutes of training.

The two academy students met everyday after class for the months that followed their talk. In that time Hanabi never managed to defeat Konohamaru in any of their spars, but she lasted longer than she had _before _the training.

Hanabi's stroll down memory lane was interrupted by Konohamaru's voice, " 'After' is too late Hanabi, you need to be able to anticipate those kinds of things during the battle or else you'll wind up like you are now; except your opponent won't be giving you a second chance." The ninja-in-training lifted is weight off the girl on the ground and stepped back so as to allow her room to stand.

Once back on her feet, Hanabi turned to Konohamaru with byakugan blazing and moved to attack. She opened with a feint, acting as if she would strike with her left hand, before swinging out with the right and aiming for the young males knee. Konohamaru spun away from the attack and went to deliver a strong elbow to the young heiress' jaw, but she ducked underneath, and he was again on the defensive as he leaned away from a palm-strike aimed for his chin.

Konohamaru didn't like playing defensively, so he set forth to change the rhythm of the spar. Leaping back a fare distance the Sarutobi heir held up his left hand and began a small series of hand-signs. Konohamaru had remembered Naruto telling him about Haku; a boy who could cast ninjutsu with only one hand, and the young teen decided it would be an invaluable skill to learn. It took him months to get good enough to where he could effectively do it in battle, but he hadn't mastered it enough to go beyond four signs with speed before he got clumsy. Finishing his set, the young teen called out his attack: _**"Wind style: Great Breakthrough!"**_

A moderately powerful blast of wind shot from the Sarutobi's palm and slammed full force into the Hyuga heiress. However, Hanabi managed to maintain her footing by channeling chakra to the soles of her sandals; when the attack was over the young girl was winded but still standing. This was useful for when Konohamaru came at her again; this time with his sword sheathed.

The young teen feinted right, before coming up with an uppercut. Hanabi leaned back to avoid it and then ducked under the back-fist that was aimed at the side of her head, she retaliated with a two-finger assault to Konohamaru's side. It struck home, causing the young male to flinch, and left him open for a palm-strike to his chest. The attack knocked Konohamaru off his feet and onto his back, but the young warrior quickly rolled backwards and sprang to his feet, just in time to avoid a devastating blow that cracked the earth beneath it.

Hanabi pushed herself into a roll in an attempt to once again bring her opponent to the ground, but this was avoided when Konohamaru jumped over her. As she got up to continue her assault Hanabi's plans were ground to a halt when she saw that her sparring partner had his hand up; signaling the end of the match.

"Why are we stopping, I can still keep going," the young heiress asked hotly.

Konohamaru just brushed what dirt he could from his tunic before replying, "Because I have someone I have to meet, and I have no desire to be dirty and reek of training when I visit them later."

Hanabi didn't look convinced. To her, it just seemed like Konohamaru called it quits because she might have actually won today, "And just who could be so important that you're cutting our session short today?"

"No one you need concern yourself with Hanabi, all I want you to worry about is practicing foresight. Because if I have to correct you on it again, you'll be spending the beginning of our foreseeable sessions carrying that wooden pillar you love _so_ much on your shoulders again." With that the young teen made his exit, leaving the youngest daughter of Hiashi twitching with dread.

oo0oo

Naruto and his group now stood outside the entrance to Konoha's foreign embassy building. The blonde quickly instructed his personal guard to lodge themselves in the building closest where he himself was staying, informing them that he'd have Tayuya acting as immediate security. The Centurions, while not entirely happy with the idea of being so far from their Imperator, chose to abide by his rule and made their exit; although not before Naruto handed one of them a letter, and ordered it delivered to Tsunade. Without a word to his two companions the blonde entered the embassy and acquired the key to his room.

As the three made their way up to the correct floor, Shikamaru voiced a question that had plagued him for days, "Tayuya, I don't think I've heard anyone address you by rank, yet you seem to hold a considerable place among the legions. Are you a Tribune?"

The red-head, who had removed her helmet upon entering the building, ran a hand through her hair in a pompous fashion before opening her mouth to reply...until Naruto beat her to it.

"Tayuya holds the title of Legates. I awarded her the rank because of her superior fighting skills and her brilliant mind; although her professionalism could use some work. Never the less, Tayuya has served me faithfully since the day I recruited her, and with worthy soldiers in short supply, she was the obvious choice."

That last remark caught the Nara heir's attention, "Worthy men? Caesar, do you mean to say that the legions aren't up to standard, because what I saw on the battlefield says otherwise."

Naruto made a noise of disagreement before saying, "It's nothing like that. My legions are worthy of their name when let loose on the field of battle, but, not many posses the necessary qualities to be anything more than soldiers. Only a handful have the tactical mind to be a Centurion, and even less have that _and _the necessary skill in combat to be considered for the position of Tribune. The men have served me well, and I am thankful for their support, but if I don't get a hold of warriors who can lead...I fear my dream of rebuilding the empire will crumble before it's even been built."

By this time the trio had reached Naruto's assigned room, the blonde gave command for Tayuya to stand guard outside while he and Shikamaru talked. The red-head was a little miffed at being left out again, but understood her place, and fell to her orders.

Once inside, Shikamaru immediately asked, "Do you think this will work?"

Naruto had taken a few more steps in, and was removing his helmet, as he replied, "I see no cause for doubt Shikamaru, the people of the Leaf have no idea what's in store for them."

"Yes, the people, but what of the higher-up's? Do you think your plan will slip by them so easily?"

By this time the blonde had removed his cloak as well, he turned his head and caught the Nara heir's eye before saying, "Why all the sudden concern...you aren't having second thoughts are you?"

Shikamaru scoffed before answering, "Feh, certainly not, I'm simply looking out for the safety of the empire's future; if something were to happen to you, everything that's been accomplished will stand for nothing."

"Your concern is appreciated; though unnecessary, once we're through here Konoha will have taken another hard blow, and we'll be able to wipe them out anytime we choose."

Although he was still worried, Shikamaru chose to push it to the back of his mind and asked another question, "After this, when we go to destroy Oto, do you intend to take on Orochimaru by yourself?"

Naruto had unsheathed his sword and was inspecting it as he replied, "I see no reason why I can't."

This threw Shikamaru for a loop, "B-But...even the 3rd Hokage couldn't do it alone Caesar; are you trying to say you've outclassed a man who's nickname was God of Shinobi?"

"I'm not _trying_ to say anything...I know I have."

At this point there was a knock at the door. Naruto directed his eyes towards the wooden slab and called out, "What is it Tayuya?"

"There's some brat here to see you; the little shit says he was given a message to come meet you," came Tayuya's muffled voice.

Recognition dawned on the young Caesar's face before he said, "Yes, I sent one after learning of Gaara's kidnapping, let him in."

Mumbled curses echoed on the other side of the door before it was opened and Konohamaru stood in the archway. The young teen looked over at Tayuya, gave a smug grin, and then walked inside; the red-head attempted to burn holes in the boy's head as she closed the door.

"Konohamaru," Naruto began, "please don't antagonize my second-in-command."

The young Sarutobi just shrugged before giving the older man a military salute and saying, "I've come as requested brother, what is it you require of me?"

Konohamaru's new attitude impressed Naruto; those three years had done wonders for the kid.

"I sent the messenger, and brought you here, because it's almost time to start making big moves," Naruto placed his hand on the youth's shoulder and said, "and I would like to have my little brother there beside me on the field of battle."

Konohamaru looked to his idol with grateful eyes, before they turned stern and he replied, "Of course brother, I stand with you, and always shall."

The younger boy's fealty was reassuring; having a name as powerful as Sarutobi on his side would be a great benefit in its own right. But now wasn't the time for relaxing and bonding, "Very good, now, in my letter I told you I'd explain the beginning stages of the plan to you;and it starts here with the Leaf. Right now the rest of the world still sees Konoha as a world power, somehow they've managed to avoid being overtaken by the rest of the villages, but I'm here to pull their crutch out from under them."

"Are you planning to invade," came Konohamaru's curious voice.

"No, nothing so vulgar, that plan of action would only damage our own reputation while giving Konoha a sympathy vote. No what I have in mind is much more attuned to a slow, agonizing defeat."

"So then what _will _we be doing?"

"It's simple...we're going to turn the world against the Leaf completely. My whole purpose in coming here was to rile up the anger of the villagers, from them having to see me again and in such a successful state, to the point where they can't help but lash out at me with brute force. I know that once I'm in front of the entire Council, Danzo Shimura will dispatch his little ROOT soldiers to prod the masses, and once I've declined any and all offers made by the Council and take my leave there will be a crowd of angry villagers waiting to get a piece of me."

Konohamaru didn't completely follow, "But brother how do you know they'll still be angry about the retrieval mission?"

This made Naruto realize; Konohamaru hadn't been told about the Nine-Tails yet. Deciding now was as good a time as any, the blonde looked over to the young teen and said, "It's not the mission they'll be upset about Konohamaru...it's the fact that I am the Jinchuuriki for the Kyubi"

oo0oo

As Konohamaru learned the shocking truth about his idol Hinata was on her way to the Hokage tower in hopes of receiving a mission. However, as she was coming up on the Yamanaka flower shop the female Hyuga's eyes caught sight of Ino making a hasty exit out its front door. Normally, this wouldn't give Hinata any cause for curiosity, but when she noticed what her fellow kunoichi was garbed in she became alert.

Ino was dressed in a forest-green battle dress. The side Hinata could see had a slit up the side that ended about mid-thigh; showing off a generous amount of the blonde's long, smooth leg that had been toned by rigorous training. Ino's dress had short sleeves that barely covered her shoulders and a high collar that hid her slender neck; the dress also had the pattern of a black, chinese dragon wrapped around the torso. Looking down, Hinata saw that Ino wore low-heel pumps on her feet.

_'Even if she was going on a seduction mission, Ino wouldn't wear shoes like that. No, there's something else going on with her. Shikamaru told me Ino doesn't date, so that's out of the question...!'_ Suddenly, Hinata thought of the only person Ino would be in such a hurry to see and be so dressed up for.

_'That sneaky little rat! But wait, how long has Naruto-kun been in the village; what if he's been here for days and they've been meeting in secret!?' _The Hyuga heiress' mind created multiple negative outcomes in the span of only a minute before her train of thought was derailed by the conversation of some villagers passing by.

"Hey, Kinta, so did you manage to see that group of outsiders so many people have been rambling on about?"

"Actually, yeah, I did."

"...And!? What were they _really _like?"

"Well, there were quite a few of em' to be honest, but they were all dressed in a similar fashion; except the one woman that was with them...oh, and I think I recognized the Nara kid walking with em' too."

"A woman? What was she like?"

"I didn't really get a good look because this other guy, I guess the foreign dignitary from his lack of manners, brushed me out of the way with his stupid horse."

"What!? Damn, I was hoping to see if the rumors of her being a beauty were true."

It was at this point the two men had walked a far enough distance that Hinata could no longer hear them. However, what she _had _managed to pick up was more than enough for her to deduce that Naruto had only just arrived that day...which meant he was more than likely at the village embassy!

Looking around Hinata didn't see Ino anymore so, activating her byakugan, the heiress quickly spotted the platinum-blonde as she was making her way through the streets and towards where Naruto was staying. _'She thinks she's going to beat me just because she had a head-start? HA, she wasted her time primping herself up, and now she can't roof-hop,' _thought a triumphant Hinata as she herself took to the roofs of Konoha's market district. Without the need to fight through other villagers Hinata quickly recovered lost ground, and eventually, managed to pass Ino; who remained unaware of her fellow kunoichi having spotted her.

It didn't take the young heiress long before she finally spotted the building she was looking for; its green and gold color scheme a dead give away. Once she'd arrived, Hinata leaped from the rooftop she'd been on, and raced inside to find out what room her blonde love was staying in.

Almost crashing into the front desk, Hinata asked the clerk, "T-There was a man who came in, he was wearing armor, and was accompanied by the Nara heir; what room is he staying in?"

The front-desk clerk just stared at Hinata for a moment, taking in the young woman's disheveled appearance, as if gauging if she truly deserved to know the room number of an important foreign figure. Hinata seemed to grow impatient with the clerks lack of response and grabbing the young woman by the collar of her shirt and growled, "I am daughter to Hiashi Hyuga and the heiress to the Hyuga clan, I have important matters to discuss with the man who just arrived; matters someone as pea-brained as you couldn't even begin to understand, so I don't have time to stand here and wait for you to decide whether or not you want to tell me what I wish to know. Because let's face it, you're either going to tell me, or I'm going to _make _you tell me."

The young man just nodded his head quickly and informed the angry kunoichi that the man she was looking for was currently staying in room 436. This was all Hinata needed, and once she had it, she raced out of the lobby and towards the elevator.

Once she was stopped on the right floor, the Hyuga heiress ran down the hallways, pushing people out of her way as she went, until she finally arrived at the door marked 436. Taking a moment to catch her breath and straighten out her hair Hinata gently knocked on the door...only to receive no response. Thinking the blonde was resting after his journey Hinata knocked again; this time louder. Only to once again be left listening to the echo of her own knock. The young woman wondered what this could mean, before her mind recalled when she'd been eavesdropping on the two men's conversation; they'd mentioned a woman!

_'B-But surely Naruto-kun hasn't found someone already? H-He's been too busy rebuilding his ancestral homeland to bother with such things...right,'_ were the thoughts of the curious heiress as she began a slow trod back to the elevator. As she was nearing the doors a small voice called to her from down the hall: "Hey lady, if you're looking for the guy with the shiny armor he already left with his friends."

Hinata turned around and was met with the sight of a small boy peeking out of one of the rooms. Hinata deduced that he was the child of Hiru Shimada; a man from the Land of Earth who was in Konoha to meet with her own father. The boy's voice broke Hinata from her thoughts, "I heard this kid that was with them ask _"what are we going to the training ground for"_, but that's all I could hear before mom made me close the door."

While the child's face broke into a pout that Hinata would normally find adorable, the young woman's mind was occupied with thoughts of meeting her blonde love again for the first time in three years; and then another thought struck home, and Hinata got a shark-like grin on her face. Walking over to the young child Hinata reached into a small pouch she kept tied to her sword-belt and held out a handful of coins for the kid to take. His eyes lit up wit excitement as the shiny silver pieces were deposited into his waiting hands.

"I'd like you to do me a favor okay? After I leave another woman will be coming along shortly after, a blonde in a green dress, I'd like for you not to tell her any of what you've told me okay; and don't mention that you saw me."

The young Shimada boy just nodded his head eagerly as he continued to look down at his shiny new money. Hinata just thanked the child quietly before going back towards the elevator.

'_All's fare in love and war Ino' _

oo0oo

Naruto was indeed standing in the center of one of the Leaf village's training grounds. His three followers stood closer to the edge and were looking at the man in confusion; he'd just decided to come here on a whim. Finally, after minutes of silence, the blonde turned and addressed the other two males, "Shikamaru, Konohamaru, I'd like for the two of you two to spar with me."

This shocked the two clan heirs. Konohamaru was the one to stutter out a response, "Y-You mean both of us, together, a-against just you?"

Naruto's face took on a contemplative look before he replied, "That wasn't my original intention, no, but now that you bring it up...yes. I think it'd be the fastest way to determine both your skill levels so we still have time to go and pick up clothes for my meeting with Tsunade later."

This time it was Tayuya's voice that flowed through the open air, "I still don't see why we're meeting her again; we already talked to her this morning, and we're going to be seeing her again in a few days."

"We're having this meeting because of the letters she sent me Tayuya; remember? She wrote that she would aid me in my journey and I'd like to discuss just what _type_ of aid she's willing to lend us; besides, having a Sannin under our banner will do nothing but help us." Naruto's explanation still didn't convince the fiery red-head, but seeing as he'd spoken in his 'what I say goes' voice, she chose to stay silent for the time being.

"Apologies Imperator," Shikamaru spoke up, "but, do you think it wise to have both us come at you at once? While I am unable to speak on Konohamaru's behalf, I myself have become a very deadly warrior and-"

Naruto cut him off, "Yes I know, my scouts have been keeping me well informed about your progress Shikamaru, but I want to get a feel for myself just how good you _really _are. And Konohamaru, while I wasn't having you watched, I did wonder about how you would grow and develop absent my guidance; I'd like to see what you've managed to do on your own."

Both young men looked at each other, and then to their shared friend, before nodding in agreement and stepping out onto the field. The two heirs drew their weapons and circled Naruto who also drew his own gladius from its sheath. With a challenging smirk, Naruto said, "Come, show me the worth of your labors."

It was Shikamaru that started them off; he went for a sweep at Naruto's right leg. When the blonde stepped over it, Konohamaru saw this as his chance to join in, and he threw a jab towards Naruto's side. The young Caesar saw this out of the corner of his eye and parried the attack with his bracer before ducking under a head-swipe made by Shikamaru; he retaliated by shouldering the Nara heir in his unprotected side, causing the young man to stumble, but Naruto was then forced to block an overhead slash from Konohamaru which ended any assault the blonde had planned for his fellow Roman.

Naruto pushed the offending sword away with his own before lashing out with a vicious punch to the young Sarutobi's face. Konohamaru made a hasty duck, but wasn't prepared for the right-knee that came rising up as Naruto leaped off his left foot, and so his chin was hit full-force and he was sent sprawling onto his back. Before Naruto could advance though he was jumping out of the way as his other sparring partner made an attempt at a horizontal slash to his armor-covered torso, the two Roman descendants clashed swords as they both went for a slash to the others head, but Naruto pulled back, and attempted a stab to the mid-section instead. Shikamaru saw this and managed to parry it, but before he could think about a counter-attack, Naruto was already leaping into the air to avoid a sweep-kick by Konohamaru.

Naruto landed on his feet with a 'thud' before placing his gladius pointed towards his opponents; the length of the blade parallel with his face in his traditonal stance. "I truly hope that's not all you two have to offer, because if it is, you better quit."

Both heirs felt their pride sting at their friends words. Shikamaru and Konohamaru had trained religiously so as to be ready when called upon by the blonde in front of them; and here he was telling them it wasn't enough!? This irked the young Konohamaru worse than the calculating and controlled Shikamaru so he was the first to respond this time.

Flashing through a set of one-handed signs the pony-tailed soon-to-be graduate set about changing his idol's tune: _**"Fire style: phoenix-flower jutsu!"**_

Inside, Naruto was proud of his "little brother" for not only being able to perform the phoenix-flower, but to be able to do it with a single hand was amazing. Letting only a small grin etch its way onto his face, the blonde Roman ducked and weaved his way through the series of baseball-sized fireballs before thrusting out his open palm and sending a harsh blast of air at his pair of opponents. Both young men recognized it as the '_**Great Breakthrough'**_ but neither had seen it done without any hand-signs before; while Shikamaru managed to avoid it completely, Konohamaru only managed to leap and avoid the brunt of the attack. The young Sarutobi was caught off-guard by the attacks range and was sent skidding along the grass on his side.

Naruto didn't get to enjoy his small victory because, almost immediately, he was forced to jump to avoid being ensnared by the Nara's famous '_**Shadow-possession'**_. However, he was soon twisting away in the air as well because the inky-black tendril shot up off the ground and followed him. _'Well now, he's come far if he can make it three-dimensional; and for so long too, _thought the blonde as he danced around the attacking shadow...before taking a firm hold of it.

Shikamaru was shocked, no enemy had found out they could actually _touch _the Nara clan's shadow jutsu; but then none of them had been as sharp as Naruto. The young descendant of Crassus just stared across the field at the armored blonde...before he remembered he could cancel the attack. The pony-tailed Nara ended his shadow manipulation and then set about weaving through a new set of hand-signs; once he was finished Shikamaru went on to send a series of earth spikes in Naruto's direction.

The blonde was bout to substitute to avoid the attack, but his instincts kicked in and he leaned forward to avoid a swing by Konohamaru; who had recovered from being hit by Naruto's attack. Dropping to a knee, Naruto elbowed the brunette boy in the stomach before pushing him aside and rolling out of the way of Shikamaru's jutsu. When he was right-side up again Naruto threw up his sword to block a downward strike from the Nara heir, who'd canceled his attack to rush at the blonde. But Naruto wasn't beaten yet; he sent his open palm directly into Shikamaru's knee, forcing the other man to buckle, and giving Naruto time to substitute away to the other side of the clearing.

Almost instantly, Naruto was parrying a stab by Konohamaru, before again attempting to hit him with a right-cross. This time when he ducked it, Konohamaru spun on his foot, and elbowed Naruto in the back. Although his armor took the blow, the blonde Roman still stumbled a step forward due to the force of the blow; he retaliated quickly by throwing his leg back and catching Konohamaru in the chest. Naruto spun around and attempted a horizontal slash to the younger males chest, but the young Sarutobi was able to leap back and avoid the dangerous move before bringing his own sword around for another attempt at striking.

Naruto leaned back to avoid it, but both warriors stopped when their eyes caught sight of the blonde's back _glowing_. Turning around, Naruto saw that Shikamaru had his hands in the '_rabbit' _hand-sign; indicating he'd just performed a jutsu. The Nara heir's eyes were just as wide with astonishment as Konohamaru's.

"Uh, bro, what just happened," came the youngest male's questioning voice.

Naruto looked to Konohamaru before motioning the still shocked Shikamaru closer. The young man moved stiffly to stand before his Imperator, he himself also hoping for an explanation.

The blonde Roman lowered his voice, ever aware that he was in enemy territory, before softly saying, "During my time in exile I re-encountered Princess Koyuki; her people had been making improvements on not only the technology I'd seen during my first visit, but also had made numerous new discoveries. After I'd explained my goal to her, Koyuki was all to eager to introduce me to Spring countries newly improved chakra armor. My legions and I are all equipped with some form of chakra absorption metal, allowing us to give less worry to things such as surprise attacks."

Both Shikamaru and Konohamaru listened with rapt attention as their shared friend explained one of his army's greatest assets. The two clan heirs looked over to the red-headed woman that had accompanied them and assumed that she too was covered with the same chakra absorbing metal. As both of them stared Naruto spoke up again; this time in a normal tone of voice, "Although you'll both be learning more about the advancements I've applied soon enough, so I hope you save some shock until that time. Now, I do believe we've used up enough of our free time, we should be going; Shikamaru if you wouldn't mind showing us the way?"

The Nara heir numbly shook his head before turning and making his way out of the training ground, his fellow Romans in tow, and back towards the village. Although as they walked, Shikamaru couldn't help wondering what tonight's meeting with Tsunade would birth.

It didn't take the group long before they made their way back to the streets of Konoha, now a bit more busy due to the later hour, and found themselves at the entrance to an upper-level clothing store.

"This is where mom makes me and my father get any sort of formal wear Imperator; I hope it will suit your needs," Shikamaru said.

Naruto crossed his arms and looked the establishment up and down before nodding, turning to his friend and saying, "This will serve purpose enough for tonight and the meeting with the Council, I had thought to just bring a set of robes from my own home, but did not wish to stain it with the business to come."

The pineapple-haired youth simply nodded his head in agreement before pushing open the door, and allowing his leader to walk through, before following behind with the other two members of their group. Once they'd made it inside, a woman in her mid-thirties came out from the back to greet them; having heard the bell atop the door.

She stood roughly 5'9 and was dressed in a skin-tight, knee-length purple dress that left her tan shoulders bare. She had thick, dark-brown hair that had been pulled up into a neat bun which left her elegant neck exposed as well as her soft, warm hazel eyes. With a smile etched across her face the woman greeted her potential customers, "Kon'nichiwa, and welcome to my shop, my name is Shiori Yatsu. Mr. Nara as always it's a pleasure to have you in my store; will you be in need of any assistance or are you and your friends just looking?"

Naruto decided he would control the flow of conversation and stepped forward to make his presence known, " Actually today it is I who require your assistance. You see, I have a meeting with the Hokage tonight, and unfortunately I made the mistake of only bringing battle gear with me; would you be able to aid me with my predicament?"

Shiori looked at the man who'd spoken and immediately her felt her face erupt with heat. He was the most handsome man she'd ever seen! Surely he was not a member of Konoha, and if he was, where had they been hiding him!?" Stammering a little Shiori managed a reply, "O-Of course sir; w-what type of yukata were you looking for?"

"While I'm sure this may sound...unusual, I have no need of Japanese formal wear. Where I hale from, the men and women dress a bit...differently." Naruto then went on to tell her that he needed pristine white robes that would reach just above his feet, and a rich, purple pallium. When the woman sent him a confused look, Naruto explained that a pallium was the shawl that draped around the torso. Once he'd described it, and she had a mental image, Shiori agreed that it could be done after she got the blonde's measurements.

Motioning for Naruto to follow her Shiori walked into the back room, and closed the curtain once her blonde customer joined her. Turning around she said, "Alright, now I'll need you to remove your armor so that I can take an accurate measurement."

Naruto simply nodded before undoing the leather straps that kept his cuirass in place, and gently laying it on the floor. Next he unwrapped his focale from around his neck and let that too fall to the floor. Now, the blonde stood with his upper-body clothed in just his crimson tunic and his bracers.

"Will this suffice," Naruto asked.

Shiori's cheeks tinted a light red as she responded, "A-Actually, would it be possible for you to r-remove your t-top as well?" The blonde's only response was to raise an eyebrow before fighting his way through the neck hole of his tunic so that he could give the woman access to his bare torso.

The older woman's face heated up when she got a full look at the foreign male standing before her. She'd made clothes for many men in the village, some of them were even high-level ninja like Shikaku Nara, but none of them held a candle to the male specimen that had stepped into her store today. Shiori let her hazel eyes wander up and down the Naruto's physique, she took in every hard muscle and traced every line, burning the image of him into her mind.

Naruto stood there for a moment, well aware of what the seamstress was up to, before smirking devilishly and asking, "So, what are your thoughts?"

This pulled Shiori from her lustful staring, before she stuttered out a reply, "U-Upon what subject?"

Now the blonde took a step forward, entering dangerously close to Shiori's personal space, before answering, "The one that stands before you; how do you gauge Caesar?"

oo0oo

As Naruto was busy preparing to meet Tsunade, the blonde Hokage had since received his letter, and was currently discussing her plans for said meeting with Shizune in her office.

"Lady-Tsunade are you sure you don't want to see if Lord-Jiraiya wishes to attend the meeting also," the woman's former apprentice asked.

Tsunade looked up from the document she'd been reading and replied, "Yes Shizune, I'm sure, Jiraiya made it very clear to me that he has no intentions of aiding Naruto in achieving his goal of resurrecting Rome and so I see no reason to even tell him about the meeting; let alone see if he wants to be a part of it."

This brought a disheartened look to the younger woman's face. Shizune knew that Jiraiya's reluctance to aid Naruto was causing her mentor great emotional pain, but the pig-tailed blonde refused to let it show through. Deciding it best to steer away from the topic of hurting hearts, Shizune asked, "I see. What do you intend to speak with Naruto about if I may ask?"

"I plan to ask him about what he plans to do about the other Great Nations, as well as what his plans for Konoha are specifically; because I'm sure both trains of thought are different."

"...And what if his plan is the destruction of the Leaf, what will you do then?"

Tsunade let out a breath before sitting back in her chair. she reached up with her hand and gently massaged her temples as she contemplated how to answer her oldest friends question in a way the younger woman would understand. Finally, Tsunade replied, "Then I will step back, and let what needs to be done, get done. This village is no longer the village my grandfather founded so many years ago, it's become a hollow shell of what it once was and it pains me to have to watch as Hashirama-ojisan's dream is pulled through the mud. While I won't aid in Konoha's destruction, I won't protect them either. You saw heard how Naruto was treated growing up, and you saw how the Council reacted to outcome of the retrieval mission; this is not the village my grandfather envisioned. "

Shizune listened as her mentor explained her stance on the degrading situation involving Konoha and the inevitable collision course it was on with Naruto's dream. While she personally was distraught to hear that her home would be left to the wolves, the young medic also knew that Tsunade was right; Konoha was beyond saving. If the people of this village had the capacity to show such unreal and unfounded fear towards a single boy, then what did that say about the quality of the citizens?

The voice of her mentor brought Shizune out of her thoughts, "Shizune were you listening?"

Shizune blinked before turning to look Tsunade in the eye and saying, "Sorry, no Lady-Tsunade, I was caught up in my thoughts and I didn't hear what you said; could you maybe say it again?"

With a confused look, considering Shizune hardly ever went into a daze, Tsunade replied, "I asked if you wouldn't mind going down to Ichiraku's and asking them to cater for the meeting with Naruto tonight; I doubt the kid's had much ramen over these past three years, and I'm sure he'd prefer it to the traditonal tea and rice cakes that are usually served."

The brunette just replied with, "Of course, I can go now if you'd like so that they have more time to prepare." Tsunade gave her an affirmative nod and Shizune was soon exiting the room, her friend's order paramount among her thoughts now.

With Shizune gone, Tsunade was left alone in her office; having dismissed her guard earlier when Naruto's message had been delivered. As she sat behind her desk the buxom blonde pulled a framed photograph from the top-right drawer of her desk and just stared at it with a smile etched on her lips. The picture was from after Naruto had won her grandfather's necklace from her, the blonde youth had a giant grin spread across his face with his hands folded behind his head. Standing behind him was Tsunade herself, and while she tried to look annoyed, anyone could see the mirth in her eyes as the pig-tailed woman looked at the camera.

With Shizune being the one who took the photo she was absent, but on Naruto's right was Jiraiya; he had one hand atop Naruto's blonde mop-top and a cheesy smile on his own face as he his other hand held up a "V" in victory. Tsunade trained her hazel eyes on the image of her former team-mate, the gentle warmth that had been there was soon replaced by the shimmer of un-shed tears. Slowly, the female Hokage opened the back of the frame and gently removed the picture from its place, next she placed it on top of her desk. Then, with tears slowly streaming down her face, Tsunade began to tear at the photo until finally she'd removed the majority of Jiraiya's body; being forced to leave his hand that was atop Naruto's head. Once that was finished the blonde woman crumpled up the image and concentrated chakra into her palm, immediately after the ball began to crinkle and darken until it was nothing but charred flakes.

Staring at the ashes in her palm Tsunade was forced to hold back a sob as she thought about the future. As much as she cared for her fellow Sannin, Naruto was like the son she was denied so many years ago when Dan died; to her, the young blonde her last chance to be a mother, and she wouldn't give that up. Even if it meant turning her back on the man she'd grown to love. There was no stronger bond than the one shared by family.

oo0oo

While Tsunade was dealing with the emotional pain of choosing between her two hearts over in the Uchiha compound the lone survivor of the clan's massacre was dealing with his own personal pain.

Sasuke was curled up in the fetal position on his bed, his head in his hands, shivering and clenching his eyes shut tightly in agony. The voice was back again, and it had gotten stronger over the years since his battle during the bandit mission, it was like a thundering headache that always seemed to be there, pulsing behind his eyes where he couldn't reach it. While a normal person would have gotten help by this point, Sasuke wasn't normal, he thought it would work against him to tell anyone about the voice; they might think it was something to do with the curse mark.

The Uchiha youth had realized after his last mission that it was indeed _not_ a product of the seal, as the pain hadn't originated anywhere near his shoulder, and didn't have the same slithering voice as the one he heard upon activating the dark mark. No, this voice was smooth, taunting, and held a tone of superiority to it; the voice from the mark was harsh and demanding.

A particularly harsh jolt of pain had Sasuke convulsing before the voice began speaking again.

"_**Weakling! You were nearly defeated by some rogue fool, you don't deserve to bare the title of Uchiha!"**_

_'Shut up,' _Sasuke screamed internally, _'you don't know anything; that guy was much stronger than he appeared.'_

But the voice wouldn't accept such a lame excuse, _**"Fool, do you think the Copy-ninja would have made the same arrogant mistake? Even that weak woman cautioned you to be careful and yet you ignored her; the Roman wouldn't have been humiliated like that, he wouldn't have invited shame upon his ancestors."**_

Hearing the voice mention Naruto was the last straw for Sasuke, _'ENOUGH! I don't want to hear about Naruto, he and I are two different people, we do things differently.'_

Then the voice said something interesting, _**"True, but also untrue, young one. You may be different people, but you are both warriors, descended from the Gods."**_

Sasuke rebuffed this claim, _'The Gods? Ha, if that were true, then why aren't we both sitting on thrones right now?'_

"_**Because you idiot, people stopped believing in such things, they felt that there was no chance beings of such power would willingly copulate with a mere human; but those legends you read about, they're all true, each hero the son of a God. And then they had children, who would later give birth to their own, and so on until...you."**_

But Sasuke still couldn't believe it. If what this voice was saying were true, wouldn't Sasuke and Naruto have god-like abilities?

This got a laugh from the voice, _**"Hahaha simple minded whelp, what do you think your sharingan is? It is the gift your ancestral God bestowed upon you, and the Roman, while his may not be as flashy as your dojutsu it is no less respectable."**_

Now the lone Uchiha's interest had been peaked, _'W-What is Naruto's gift then?'_

"_**He cannot be killed in battle. The young Caesar becomes immortal while in the heat of battle; the enemy may hack and slash at him all they like but the man will never fall, something you have experienced first hand have you not?"**_

And in that instant Sasuke recalled all the different instances when his former team-mate had faced death, and yet walked away as if nothing happened. Against Zabuza and Haku, during the second stage of the chunin exams, against Gaara_**, **_while in the Land of Snow, and many other accounts including their battle at the valley.

Sasuke felt a sense of realization dawn on him. The clans of Konoha, as well as the clans of other villages, all received their bloodlines through relation to a supernatural being! _'But wait,' _he thought to himself, _'then who gifted the Uchiha with the sharingan?'_

It was this thought that drove Sasuke to do something he'd never done before; the Uchiha male made his way down below the compound, to his clan's ancestral burial tombs, to read from the ancient scrolls contained in its library.

oo0oo

Naruto had finished his clothes shopping and was exiting the building with his group in tow; a red-faced Shiori bidding them farewell with a dreamy smile on her face. The outfit had taken a number of hours to complete, so Naruto and his followers had visited a restaurant nearby and had lunch while they waited; none of the patrons being able to recognize Naruto due to his drastic change in apperance. As they walked Tayuya looked over to her Imperator and asked, "Is it really necessary for you to flirt with every attractive woman you see?"

The blonde's response was swift, "But Tayuya, you never complain when it's your turn."

This had the desired effect, Tayuya's cheeks glowed a light pink, and she immediately let out an annoyed huff before turning her eyes down. However, this meant she wasn't paying attention to what was in front of her, so when the passed a corner that lead down a different road she ran right into the person rounding said corner. Years of harsh training, and numerous life-or-death battles, kept Tayuya from being knocked off her feet and the person she'd run into was simply pushed up against their companion.

"Hey, why don't you pay attention to what you're doing," came the female voice of the other person.

"How about you just watch where you're going next time huh," came the red-heads immediate retort. Turning her eyes up to see who she'd collided with Tayuya was met with the sight of Kurenai Yuhi, who was being held steady by Asuma Sarutobi. The red-haired warrior had learned the names as well as the skills of many of the Leaf's top ninja, not only during her time with Orochimaru, but also while serving under Naruto; the blonde had managed to snatch up a bingo book during their first trip to Suna, and it contained information even Orochimaru didn't have on various ninja including those in Konoha.

Tayuya immediately noticed the gauze that was wrapped around the other woman's forehead. Kurenai noticed this and asked, "Is there a problem?"

"Yeah," Naruto's soldier balked, "the problem is that this village must have some pretty lame ninja if one of their _elite Jounin_ managed to get a head wound outside of a mission."

The way Tayuya snarked out her title ruffled Kurenai's feathers, "Oh, and I suppose you've never miss-stepped during a training exercise?"

This made the red-head laugh, "Hahaha of course not, the Imperator would never allow a soldier to serve under him if they took such an injury during a simple training exercise; it means it's likely to happen out in the field too."

At the mention of "Imperator" Kurenai and Asuma noticed that Tayuya wasn't alone. Asuma immediately caught sight of his nephew, "Konohamaru, what are you doing here, I thought you had practice with Ebisu today?" Before the younger Sarutobi could respond a snort drew Asuma's attention to the blonde of the group.

"That fool has no business trying to educate a Roman legionary in any aspect of life, least of all the ways of combat," came Naruto's response.

Asuma didn't like the sound of the blonde's reply, "Konohamaru is going to be a ninja of the Hidden Leaf, not one of your pawns, and my father tasked Ebisu with training him because he's a Jounin of high quality and is an exceptional teacher."

"Pawn?" Naruto questioned, "Asuma it seems you've been spending a little too much time around Miss Yuhi if you think all Konohamaru is to me is a simple _pawn_. Although I can't fault you for being swayed by her, what with a body like that, there's no limit to what she could make a man believe; though I'm sure you know that better than anyone."

Feeling anger race though him at the insult leveled against his significant other Asuma made an attempt to get his hands on Naruto to teach the blonde a lesson in manners. Attempted, because before he got close enough, Tayuya reacted by grabbing hold of his right wrist and twisting the bearded Jounin's arm behind his back in a painfully tight grip.

Seeing her lover being handled so roughly Kurenai reacted. She made to engage Tayuya, but was stopped unexpectedly by Shikamaru. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Oh, and why not? It's obvious that she's assaulting him Shikamaru," the ruby-eyed kunoichi exclaimed.

This time it was Konohamaru that spoke up, "Actually Miss Yuhi, my uncle made a move to assault the Naruto-niisan, so Tayuya being his guard, stepped in to defend him."

Konohamaru's taking of Naruto's side shocked Asuma to the point that he stopped struggling against Tayuya's, admittedly, strong hold. Again, Shikamaru's voice broke the silence, "Kurenai-san I think it would be best if you and Asuma-sensei leave; you wouldn't want to cause an incident would you?"

This made Kurenai remember that Naruto was no longer just another ninja in the Leaf's rank, he was actually the leader of the group Konoha was trying to align themselves with. With a growl she turned to Asuma and said, "Let's just go. Besides, your student is right, we've pushed the envelope far enough as it is."

Asuma looked to Kurenai for a moment before relaxing his tense muscles. Tayuya, sensing that the two ninja truly were planning to back off, let go of her captive who immediately tended to his bruised wrist._ 'For someone with small hands she has a powerful grip,'_ thought the son of the 3rd Hokage. Kurenai sent a scathing glare in Naruto's direction before she and Asuma made their exit.

Choosing to ignore the raven-haired beauties obvious distaste for him Naruto addressed his group, "I think that's enough excitement for today, and besides, it's best I return to the embassy so I can get cleaned up for the meeting with Tsunade."

With his followers all in agreement, Shikamaru and Konohamaru went their separate ways, while both Naruto and Tayuya made the return trip to the embassy.

On their way there Tayuya grew tired of the silence and asked, "So I know you gave the other two a vague idea of what you intend to talk about, but, what are you and the old broad _really _going to discuss?"

Naruto chuckled lightly to himself before eyeing his long-time companion and saying, "Why do you insist on worrying so much about this Tayuya? You'll be there as my guard, so you'll get to hear everything that goes on, isn't that enough?"

"But you've made it abundantly clear to everyone that you detest this village, and yet here you are, willing to sit down and have a nice little chat with its Hokage; it's confusing," replied Tayuya.

"To you, yes, I can see why it would seem so. But what you fail to understand is that I've planned everything out already, all that's left is to play my part, and let everything else come together."

Tayuya noticed the distinct gleam in her superior's eye, something she'd become accustomed to seeing during battle; right before he outmaneuvered an especially dangerous opponent, and knew that the blonde did indeed know what he was doing. This was like a chess match, and Naruto was already five moves ahead of everybody else.

oo0oo

_A/N: Hello everybody, here's the next full chapter for Rise, Son Of Rome. Personally I wanted to extend it to include Naruto's meeting with Tsunade, but after I got to this point and tried to keep going, it just started to feel forced. The majority of this chapter actually came very easily to me, and I'm glad it's a decent length this time._

_Anyway, Sasuke's beginning to take the turn that will make him a central piece of the story; I know the whole "clans getting their bloodlines from gods" thing isn't original, but in Roman times they were a very important aspect of everyday life as well as warfare, so expect to see more about them in later chapters. Naruto will run into Hinata during the next chapter, so I'll just leave that open for you guys to think about._

_Jiraiya, although I respect him as a ninja, I've never really liked him as a character. I decided to place him on the opposing side because he seems like the type to put the village before the individual, where as Tsunade seems the opposite to me._

_I rated this story as an 'M' for reasons that will soon become apparent, for anyone who's wondered about that. Once such group of reasons will come after Naruto has torn down the Sound village, and has prisoners to torture and make sport of. You will also soon be seeing Naruto's new home, something that if you remember I hinted at far in the beginning of the story as he was leaving Wave._

_And speaking of the beginning, I went back and did a little clean up in terms of how it looks; I just had the spare time. Anyway, the next chapter may come a little late, there's a new_ _project that I thought of that's been beating at me that wants to be given at least a few chapters to start it off, so I want to do that. _

_Like always, review, give critiques, or PM me with any questions you may have =)_


	15. Rebus Cordis

_**Rise, Son Of Rome**_

_**Ch. 15- Rebus Cordis**_

_**(Matters of the Heart)**_

**oo0oo**

Hidden villages, such as the Leaf, are home to many different types of ninja. Among the ranks are even special breeds with ability known as kekkei genkai, or bloodline limits, that allow them to perform jutsu specific to them like the First Hokage's _**Mokuton**_, or use a special ability only compatible with their body types; like the Kaguya's _**Bone pulse**_.

Each of these powers are deadly in their own right, each giving the user an ace in the hole if pushed in battle, and yet they pale in comparison to an even more powerful bloodline ability...dojutsu. There are only three known dojutsu in the ninja world; the _Byakugan_, _Sharingan_, and the _Rinnegan_. Each dojutsu grants it's wielder incredible power...though sadly only the _Byakugan_ has managed to remain in high population.

However, what many in the world have forgotten, is that each bloodline is derived from the gods. Each having been gifted from the coupling between a higher power and a mortal of the earth. For centuries men and women have honored their ancestral gods, paying homage to the powerful entities that watch over and protect the world, and this prays was even higher among those who were gifted with kekkei genkai. The clans that received these gifts built temples and shrines in their patron god's honor, and the deity was worshiped with the utmost respect.

Until the time of the Rikudo Sennin.

The Sage had used his powerful eyes to defeat a monster known as the Jubi and seal it away into the moon. Afterwards the Sage was hailed as not only a hero, but people began to think of the man as a god for his immense power, and even more so when he showed the ordinary world how to control what he called "chakra". Soon it wasn't just a select few who were playing with fire or raising mountains from the ground; it was everybody.

Unfortunately, this caused the people to turn away from those whom they received their gifts from, claiming that the power had been inside _themselves _the whole time, and didn't need the gods to unlock the power. Many of the clans also turned from their devotion, after clan wars left their families in shatters, believing that if the gods truly existed they would have answered the prayers of their followers.

In time the temples and shrines were raided and some even torn down, the others left to be rotted away by time. And yet, through it all, there were still clans that held on to their faith; one such clan being the Uchiha's.

In the Hidden Leaf, located underneath vast levels of earth and tunnels, lay the crypt of all past Uchiha members as far back as Madara Uchiha's time; he being the one to suggest the idea. The man himself however was never buried there. The burial chamber was created in secret, to keep the clan's _Sharingan _from falling into the wrong hands, and so even now the only ones to know of its existence are those of the Uchiha family.

This is where Sasuke finds himself now.

The raven-haired teen stands at the entrance way to the burial chamber of his ancestors, having been driven there by the need for answers, and now fights with himself to open the door. Sasuke's onyx-black eyes stare hard at the old, dusty entrance carved from stone. Chiseled into the doorway is the Uchiha fan, and surrounding it, a series of words written in a language the young heir didn't understand.

_'Magna vis est, nisi per sacrificium magnum,' _Sasuke thought to himself, _'what in the world is that?'_

_**'It's the language of your ancestors boy, one that has long since been forgotten, but is needed if one is to have any hope of opening this door,'**_replied the voice from earlier. The one that had convinced Sasuke to come down here in the first place.

'_If it's so important to know then why wasn't I taught it as child,'_ the Uchiha snarled.

_**'Your father hadn't yet deemed you worthy of the knowledge; he felt you weren't ready to learn the true extent of your clan's curse. However, if you are to aid the young Caesar in the coming conflict, then you will need to open these doors and retrieve what's inside.'**_

_'And just how am I going to learn it? If you know so much, then you must also know that my brother and I are the only two Uchiha's left.'_

The voice chuckled. It was deep, and it rumbled in Sasuke's mind as the voice answered him, _**'That's what I'm here for young one. We aren't normally supposed to interfere with you weaklings affairs, but with what's been happening, and with what is going to happen, some of us are starting to see that you humans will need all the help you can get.'**_

This just left the young man with more questions, but before he could ask them the voice called to him again, _**'In order for me to help you, I will need for you to relax, and allow me to share your body with you.'**_

The response shocked Sasuke; and then it made him wary. The voice had said before that it wasn't going to do him any harm, but after the ordeal with Orochimaru's curse mark, the young avenger couldn't help but immediately be on guard.

_'And why would I do that? What if I don't feel like sharing bodies with a voice in my head. What then?'_

_**'Then you will never open this door, and your world will fall into chaos, before it eventually destroys itself.'**_

This confused Sasuke, _'What are you talking about, and if Naruto's so special why haven't you told him yet either?'_

_**'Because fool, I am not his patron, that boy's family hails from the bloodline of Venus. The young Caesar, whom you call Naruto, will be visited once he returns to his homeland; where his patron's presence is strongest. Now, I would rather not force the union, so I'll ask again that you relax.'**_

Sasuke was still unsure. Could he really trust this voice, and more importantly, it wasn't _normal _to hear voices in your head. Just what was going on? Unfortunately for the teenage avenger, the voice in his head was becoming impatient, and soon Sasuke felt as if his head was going to explode.

A moment later the pain faded and Sasuke could focus again, but then he noticed something, he couldn't move! _'W-What's going on here!?'_

Looking left and right Sasuke also noticed that his sight was hazy; like he was trying to see through a thick fog...and then he heard his own voice, but he didn't recall ever opening his mouth.

"Great power comes only through great sacrifice," the Uchiha's voice echoed. For a moment nothing happened, and Sasuke thought that the voice had said the inscription wrong, but then a rumbling sound was heard and the door began to rise off the ground. Once the doorway was clear Sasuke felt a strange pulse shoot through his body before his vision returned to normal and he could move again.

Looking around the raven-haired teen shouted, "What was that just now, I didn't say you could just come in and use my body without permission!"

When the young man's anger was met with silence, he growled before shouting again, "Answer me, I wanna know who you think you are, hitching a ride in my body without my-"

"_**Silence boy! You seem to have forgotten just who it is you're speaking too. It was part of my genes that gave you and your kin those eyes you were all so proud of, so don't think I can't just take them back if I feel you don't deserve them!**_

Sasuke immediately closed his mouth, not wishing to incur anymore of the voice's wrath, and not daring to challenge whether or not it really could take away his _Sharingan_. Once the silence stretched for another moment the voice called to him again.

"_**Good, we understand each other again. Now I want you to go into that crypt, and when you reach the Sage's Tablet, you and I shall speak again."**_

Sasuke didn't say anything, he merely nodded in understanding, before beginning his trek through the buried remains of his kin.

The burial chamber was cold and dusty. As he moved between coffin racks Sasuke could smell the scent of aged wood; wood that had been left sitting, and housing the dead, for centuries. It was not a pleasant smell.

But the young man chose to ignore the assault to his senses and continue on, determined to get to the bottom of whatever was going on in the world, and how he and Naruto were a part of it. Sasuke noticed, as he continued his walk, that the bodies were set up so that the eldest members of the clan were housed further inwards, while the newer generation could be found in the front...this was easier to know when he realized the smell was getting _worse_.

As he moved through the torched pathways Sasuke couldn't keep his mind from wandering. He thought manly about the voice he'd been getting instructions from, but also about his blonde team-mate.

In regards to the voice, the young Uchiha male had an inkling of who it was, made more sure by the threat it had made earlier, but Sasuke wanted to be absolutely sure before doing anything else. While his father may not have schooled him heavily in the clan's history, as in before Madara Uchiha, his mother saw fit to share what little knowledge she knew about it. That was when a young Sasuke learned of the ancient god known as Pluto; or Hades as he was known in some circles.

Using her limited knowledge Mikoto weaved the tail of the Uchiha clan's true founding and just where it is they received their _Sharingan _from. The woman told Sasuke that Pluto was the god of the underworld, after having been assigned the position by his brother Jupiter, but he was forced to live for a great many years in isolation and loneliness which eventually turned him cruel and cold-hearted. It was because of that he abducted the goddess that would become queen of the underworld; Proserpina.

However, early in their time together, Pluto secretly took on a mistress. Her name was Mania; and it was through _her _that the Uchiha were birthed. Unfortunately for Sasuke, that's where his mothers knowledge on the subject ran dry. She told him that his father knew, as was the duty of every clan head to know the ancestry of their clan, but it would not be wise to ask of it.

Shaking his head to clear his mind of thoughts about his dead mother Sasuke turned his attention to thoughts about his blonde former team-mate. After not seeing him for three whole years Sasuke couldn't help wondering just how much more powerful Naruto had gotten. The Uchiha had no doubts that Naruto had survived, especially now that he knew of the blonde's gift, leaving only one outcome; Naruto must have spent his time training and getting stronger.

Sasuke wondered when he would get the chance to see the Uzumaki again. With the poisonous influence of the curse mark subdued Sasuke was able to think clearly again and hoped to make amends with Naruto; unfortunately this made the memories all the more clear as well. He attempted to mend the damage he'd done to Hinata, but the young heiress would only respond that, _'The mark fed off of your own negative thoughts and feelings Sasuke, had you just stopped and used your head, instead of letting your blind hatred, guide you there would have been nothing for the mark to feed off of and you wouldn't have lost control'_, before walking away from him.

Before he could think on those thoughts any longer Sasuke was brought out of his musings by a sharp pain in his foot. Letting out a grunt of pain that echoed through the chamber, Sasuke looked around and noticed that he'd made it to the Sage's Tablet. The tablet was mounted on the wall, and bordered by a gleaming, silver frame. Sasuke noticed that he'd run into a small series of steps that lead to the tablet. As his eyes gazed upon the stone the Uchiha immediately noticed something...he couldn't read any of the words.

"_But if I can't even read it then what was the point of me coming down here,"_ he grumbled to himself.

"_**So that I could speak to you in person now," **_came a voice from behind Sasuke.

The raven-haired youth whipped around to face the voice, and finally put a face to the voice, only to be left it shock at what he saw.

The man that stood before him was tall, standing at a height of 6'4 that easily dwarfed Sasuke's 5'10 frame. Along with height, the man was also built like a powerhouse, muscles bulged from his form and strained the cloth of his robes. Sasuke looked up towards the man's face, and saw that it was mostly hidden beneath a bushy, black beard and a head of wavy, black hair that reached his broad shoulders. His eyes, like Sasuke's, were an onyx-black color. And finally Sasuke took notice of the staff in the man's large, left hand.

...And yet.

"If you really are the patron of the Uchiha clan, then show me the _Sharingan."_

A deep laugh echoed throughout the tomb, _**"While it is true that I helped sire you and your ancestors, I did not do it alone, you get your eyes from Mania."**_

Sasuke folded his arms as he replied, "Then what my mother told me was true; you took a second woman. The question is, why?"

Pluto waved his right hand and a throne made from iron and crimson cushions formed from the dust in the Uchiha crypt. Once he was seated the god motioned for Sasuke to do the same, when the young man made it a point that he would stand Pluto began his story.

"_**I took Mania because of a deal my brother made with Proserpina's mother Ceres. Your mother told you of how I gained my wife through trickery, and that is true, but even the ruler of the underworld doesn't enjoy separating a mother from her child; so I struck a deal. Proserpina would spend nine months away from me, and in the company of the world, but would spend the other three in the underworld."**_

"And it's during those nine months that you bring Mania to the underworld isn't it, so that you don't have to sit down there by yourself," Sasuke finished for him.

"_**Yes, that is correct."**_

"Sounds pretty human to me," replied Sasuke, "I thought gods were above such petty emotions such as loneliness and vengeance."

Pluto just sighed as a response before Sasuke noticed a flash in the deities eyes. The older brother of Jupiter stood from his throne and said, _**"You've reminded me of why I brought you here. Sasuke, your world is in terrible danger, and you must be ready to face it when the time comes."**_

"And what exactly is this danger?"

"_**Luna."**_

Sasuke just looked to the god who played a part in his family's creation, the name holding no meaning to him, and asked, "Who is Luna, and why should I be preparing for her? What does she want with the world?"

"_**Luna is the spirit of the moon, and she plans to punish the world for your Rikudo Sennin's actions. When that man sealed away the Jubi inside the moon, he did it without Luna's permission, and with no prayer of forgiveness. He simply did as he saw fit."**_

"But the world would have been destroyed had he not done it, the Ten-Tails was too powerful to be stopped, what else was he supposed to do," Sasuke replied.

Pluto sent a smoldering glare in the young man's direction as his deep voice bellowed, _**"Fool! Just like that idiot Hagoromo you forget your place; we are the gods, and you the mortals, no matter what small measure of power we may give to you!"**_

"So we're going to be fighting an angry spirit because the Sage disrespected her authority?"

"_He is not the only one," _came a soft, slithery female voice.

Sasuke turned his head and watched as a figure appeared from the shadows. This time a woman. She was stunningly beautiful, the young Uchiha male could find no imperfection anywhere on her body. She stood as tall as Sasuke, and held a slim figure. The woman was dressed in crimson-red robe, that left her right shoulder exposed, while the other was covered in a strap that was held together by a circular pin. The woman's robe was fitted, showing off her curves and pushing up her breasts, which drew attention to her smooth, ivory skin. Looking towards her face Sasuke felt his breath catch in his throat.

The woman was indeed beautiful. With full, ruby lips and soft but mature features Sasuke was hard-pressed not to stare. She, like Pluto, had a head of raven-black hair; but hers was silky and done up in an elegant bun, while two curly loops framed her face. While the woman before him was beyond anything the Uchiha male had seen before, the thing that finally floored him were her eyes.

Her blood-red, _Sharingan_, eyes. But they were different from any Sasuke had ever seen before. This woman's version had multiple rings surrounding the pupil, and not three, but _nine _tomoe spread out around the eye. As he gazed into the hellish gems Sasuke felt the word around him start to blur, to the point where all he saw in a field of darkness was the woman's bloody gaze.

Before he knew what was happening, Sasuke fell to the floor unconscious.

**oo0oo**

Night had long since fallen over the village of Konoha. The streets were empty of life, and the only light was from the street lamps posted every few yards. However, these lights did nothing to illuminate the shadows one would find in the alleys between buildings, and so this made those little spaces perfect for secret meetings.

A fact used numerous times by one Danzo Shimura.

"And you're sure it was the Nine-Tails jinchuuriki you saw ride through the village," the bandaged elder asked the kneeling figure before him.

"Yes Danzo-sama, myself and a handful of other ROOT members witnessed the jinchuuriki make his way towards the Hokage's tower alongside the Nara heir."

"Hmm, originally I had hoped to capture the boy after having him banished, but I underestimated young Uzumaki's ability to evade detection and he got away. But now, with him back in the village, I may just have another chance," Danzo said to himself.

Turning his attention back towards his ROOT operative, Danzo relayed his new orders, "Sai I want you and Konriu to apprehend the Nine-Tails jinchuuriki and bring him to me. Once we have him, there will be no need to rely on the Eagle for aid, as we will have the most powerful of the Tailed Beasts at our disposal; I trust I don't need to tel you that failure is not an option this time?"

"No Danzo-sama, we will not fail you; _I _will not fail you."

With that, the ROOT member vanished from sight and left the Council Elder alone.

_'And if I can't have the Nine-Tails, I'll simply have to do away with him and forge a new weapon. There is no place in the world for defective tools.'_

**oo0oo**

For most of Konoha's citizens, the day that followed was much like every other day. However, for some, it was the beginning of a long thought plan that had been forged by one man's desire to revive his home.

One of those few happened to be Shikamaru Nara. Unlike in his early years the pony-tailed heir now had no issue with being up with the sun, so it was no trouble when his Imperator asked that he 'take a walk' around the village and speak with several of its occupants. First on the list, obviously, were the Ichirakus.

Shikamaru wasn't surprised to hear that the father/daughter ramen stand team were the first people Naruto wanted him to speak with. Knowing how often the blonde frequented the establishment, and how friendly the two were to him during his visits, the Nara heir thought it only right they be the first to receive an invitation to start over in Rome.

It didn't take the young man long before he reached the little stand, and with it being early morning the stools were all empty, giving Shikamaru the perfect opportunity to speak with the small family. Once he reached the counter, Shikamaru rung the small bell that sat atop the table, and waited.

As usual, it was Ayame that answered the call. The young woman was dressed ready for work in a set of plain civilian clothes, covered by a white apron, with a white bandanna to help keep her long, chestnut-brown hair out of the way.

"Oh, hello Shikamaru-san, you're here early. What can we get for you today," she asked politely.

"Actually, Ayame-san, this time it's about what _I_ can give to you and your father."

The pretty brunette's face scrunched in confusion as she replied, "I-I don't understand your meaning, could you be a little clearer Shikamaru-san?"

Shikamaru took a seat at the bar, and with his arms folded over the table, leaned forward and whispered, "There's somebody we both know, a mutual friend, that wants to offer the Ichiraku's a place to start over; a place where _fishcakes _aren't banned."

As the pineapple-haired Nara sat back and awaited her response, Ayame's face went through a small whirl of emotion. First she was confused; Why would somebody be extending any kind of offer to a pair of civilian ramen chefs? Then that confusion changed to curiosity; sure the Civilian Council banned the use of fishcakes, but that was because of their dislike...for...And then Ayame's face lit up in hopeful sort of wonder, her eyes misted with tears as she looked towards the man sitting at the bar.

Shikamaru saw that the young woman understood his proposition, and continued with instructions, "I'll take that look as an acceptance of the offer. With that, I was asked to inform you that tomorrow the caravan that is set up to transfer refugees will be within range of travel. You and your father are to pack up only what you can carry on your backs and leave tonight; you'll meet up with the escort at this location," with that he slipped a piece of paper across the table, being sure to hide it underneath a few bills, and then left the stand after bidding Ayame goodbye.

With that visit over, Shikamaru now made his way towards the ANBU headquarters. The Imperator had made it known which members of the elite force would be willing to follow him, and which were best to keep away from; bad business to inform the spies of your enemy and all that.

It took the young man some time before he arrived, and in all honesty, it saddened him to see what had become of the legendary ANBU. Shikamaru remembered stories his father used to tell him about, during the Great Ninja Wars, how dangerous and formidable the ANBU were. How just the very _name_ struck fear into the hearts of an opposing nation; at that time, the headquarters location was known only to the Hokage and the members themselves.

Now, the headquarters was like the mission hall, if you were a ninja you knew exactly where it was. Once at the check-in center Shikamaru was asked to wait, while the guards let the ANBU captain he was looking for know they had a visitor. After that, Shikamaru was directed towards a wall of chairs, and asked to sit and wait.

Thankfully, it didn't take long for the doors to open and a female ANBU agent to walk through them and over towards Shikamaru.

"I was told you wished to see me Nara-san," asked the purple-haired woman.

"Yes Neko-san, and if it's not too much trouble would you mind if we spoke somewhere a little more private? It's just that, the information I have is very sensitive, and is meant for your ears only."

Yugao wasn't sure what to make of the young man's request. As she stared at Shikamaru through the holes in her mask, the young kunoichi debated whether or not to just dismiss him or hear what he had to say; she was busy running an ANBU cell and didn't really have time for distractions.

Shikamaru could see the woman's reluctance to speak with him, and remembering Naruto's advice, quickly whispered, "It involves the man that took Hayate's life, Neko-san, we know who did it."

The clan heir could tell by the stiffening of her shoulders that the female ANBU member was interested

now. After the sickly Jounin's death no one was ever able to discover just who it was that had done him in. Many believed it was a member of the Suna ninja force, but with no leads, the investigation was quickly shut down.

Leaving a very hollow Yugao Uzuki to forever feel cheated out of receiving justice.

However, it seems that during his travels Naruto had set up spy networks in just about all of the different ninja villages; all except the ever closed-off Hidden Rain. This included Otogakure. And it was through this chain of informants that the blonde learned that it had been Orochimaru's right-hand man, Kabuto, that had done in Gekkou Hayate years ago during the Chunnin Exams. While this had no personal value to Naruto himself, the young Roman had a gut instinct that the information would come in handy one day; and after discussing his plans with Shikamaru, the blonde was more than happy that he'd listened to his instincts when he learned about Yugao.

Shikamaru was shaken from his thoughts when Yugao spoke up, "Follow me."

And so he did, and after ten minutes of silent walking, the two ninja were seated in a corner booth at a tea shop that sat just a small was from the ANBU headquarters. After shooing away their waiter Yugao removed her mask, and with unblinking eye contact, asked, "What do you know about Hayate-kun's killer?"

Shikamaru could clearly see the pain in the kunoichi's chocolate-brown eyes, and felt a twinge in his gut at how painful it must have been to hold on to her grief all these years. So, squaring his shoulders, the Nara replied, "While I'd like nothing more than to tell you, and finally alleviate your suffering, there _is _a price for the information Neko-san."

Yugao's pained eyes quickly hardened into a glare at those words, "And just what kind of _price _are we talking about Nara-san?"

"Nothing like that," he answered with a shake of his head, "my Imperator merely wishes for you, and all ANBU loyal to the Hokage, to let go of their allegiance to the Hidden Leaf and agree to fight under _his _banner."

The purple-haired woman nearly leaped from her seat at the fact that she was being asked to commit treason, but her years with the ANBU allowed her to get away with just folding her arms across the table and asking, "As much as I want to find the one who murdered Hayate-kun, what makes this _Imperator _of yours think my fellow ANBU and I would be willing to betray our village?"

"Because the village you and your comrades serve now is no longer the one you all pledged allegiance to in the past. Konoha has long since rotted from the inside, the government has become a sham, and the people don't respect nor appreciate the fact that you all put your lives on the line every day to keep them safe and happy," Shikamaru quickly answered her.

But Yugao wasn't fully on board yet, "And what of Lady Tsunade? Are we just supposed to up and leave her to the wolves that will remain behind? Without the ANBU that are loyal to her, Hokage-sama will quickly find herself on the business end of a katana; courtesy of one of Dnazo Shimura's little ROOT pets. How can you expect us to just leave her?"

At that Shikamaru smirked, and replied, "Of course not, and that loyalty is exactly what my Imperator is looking for, which is why in just a couple of days he'll be speaking with Tsunade about a..._proposition _he has in mind for her. And if all goes well, you and your fellow ANBU will be long gone from here before any of the mess starts."

This got Yugao to quickly lean forward, to better hear the next answer to her question, as she asked, "Mess..what mess?"

**oo0oo**

While Shikamaru worked on securing more soldiers for Naruto's army, Konohamaru was busy as well...though his was a much more personal matter.

The young Sarutobi stood outside the Hyuga compound waiting for Hanabi to walk through the gate. He held mixed feelings; half hoping she took her time, half wanting to get this over with. After speaking with his idol about what was to happen in just a few days Konohamaru felt it necessary to inform the youngest Hyuga heiress about what he was about to do...and hopefully talk the girl into joining him.

After spending three years with only Hanabi to talk to Konohamaru had developed an attachment to her, the two young teens had forged an unusual sort of friendship out of the fires of rivalry, and the young Sarutobi heir didn't want to see that all fall apart.

Konohamaru was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of the gate opening and the person who plagued his mind stepping out to greet him.

When Hanabi had been informed that she had a visitor, the young girl automatically assumed it to be Konohamaru; her fellow brunette was the only person her age that spoke to her. And he had asked that they spend time together today, but she didn't think too much about that. As she changed from her house robes into something more civilian Hanabi thought about her relationship with her fellow clan heir.

What started out as a strong dislike for the her fellow academy student had then developed into a strange curiosity after her first defeat. This curiosity quickly evolved into a grudging respect after they started to train together, and then into an odd sort of friendship.

Being the heiress to the Hyuga clan meant that Hanabi was raised differently from other kids in the village, and unfortunately, this upbringing didn't make much room going to the park and making friends. So when Hanabi finally entered into the academy her social ineptitude, along with her seemingly know-it-all attitude, caused many in the class to regard her as stuck up and spoiled.

And while on the outside Hanabi didn't let it show that this bothered her, on the inside, the young girl felt hurt that the children of the village could truly be so shallow. It was then that Hanabi decided to give her classmates what they wanted, and she became the very things they'd assumed she was.

But after spending time with Konohamaru, Hanabi soon found that she looked forward to going to class, instead of finding it to be a bother, and that she now had to hide small smiles after the young boy would compliment her after training. Hanabi had a friend, and it felt...nice.

So when she made her way down to the courtyard, and exited through the front gate, she was curious about her friends new state of dress.

Konohamaru stood before dressed in a way she'd never seen before. He still wore his tunic, but now his torso was also covered in armor, while his lower-body was now partially hidden by a skirt of leather strips. The young teen also had those same leather strips covering his shoulders, while his shins were now guarded by grieves. Completing the new look was a haircut; Konohamaru no longer had a ponytail, and his upright, spiky hair had been trimmed down.

Shaking off her shock Hanabi stepped closer to the young teen and greeted him, "H-Hello Konohamaru-san, you wished to speak with me?"

"Yeah, it's really important, would you mind if we walked and talked?"

The youngest Hyuga heiress just nodded and followed her friend as he began to move away from the compound.

After about fifteen minutes of walking around Konohamaru finally spoke up, "Hanabi, there's something I need to tell you, but you have to promise me that after we talk that you won't tell anybody else about what I'm about to say to you...okay?"

Hanabi turned her head and looked into the young Sarutobi's eyes. She could see just how serious her sparring partner was, and also, the young girl could also see a gleam of something else; fear. Whatever Konohamaru had to tell her scared the young brunette...and that scared Hanabi.

Swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat Hanabi muttered a small, "Alright, I promise," before waiting for the boy walking beside her to continue.

Konohamaru didn't make her wait long, "...As you can obviously see, the time I told you about has come, I'm getting ready to join up with Naruto-niisan. The armor I have on was something I ordered a long time ago in preparation for this day, but I didn't ever wear it because I didn't feel I was ready, which is why you've never sen me in it."

Hanabi just nodded silently, but before she motioned him to continue she asked, "But...Uzumaki-san was banished, he's no longer a ninja of this village, if you leave to join him won't that make you a missing ninja?"

"Yes," the armored youth replied, "but I feel that I can't serve under a village that would so carelessly throw one of its members away simply because they didn't like the way that person handled a mission. What does that say about the type of government we work for? Does that mean I'll have to watch _my _step if I were ever teamed with Uchiha-san?"

"...When we first started the academy, you use to always say how you were going to become the Hokage. If you do, then you'll have the power to change things, make them right again, and even revoke the punishment placed upon Uzumaki-san."

Konohamaru looked over at his companion. He could see in her eyes that there was more she wanted to say, but her years under the Hyuga roof prevented her from fully opening up to him. It pained the young brunette that the girl would force down her own feelings out of fer of being seen as weak, and it also made him angry that a clan could really consider such a thing as healthy.

Pushing those thoughts aside for now, Konohamaru just shook his head and replied, "No, the Hidden Leaf has rotted away from the inside, there is no saving it and I'm choosing not to be around when everything collapses...and I want you to come with me."

**oo0oo**

Sasuke let out a groan as his eyes fluttered open. As he pushed himself up off the ground the Uchiha male's onyx-black orbs widened when he remembered _why _he was waking up on the cold ground and not in his bed. Whipping his head around, Sasuke's eyes quickly landed on the sight of two ghostly forms seated to his right.

"_Apologies young Sasuke, I'd forgotten just how...dangerous my eyes can be against the weak minded." _The woman, who Sasuke remembered was named Mania, said mockingly.

Narrowing his eyes at her insult, Sasuke asked, "What do you mean dangerous?"

Mania smirked and replied, _"Where do you think the Uchiha clans prowess with genjutsu comes from? My eyes have the the power to hypnotize, as well as...let's say, play, with someones mind. A perfect example would be your brother's Tsukuyomi."_

"So I passed out because of the power of your eyes, and not from shock?"

"_Precisely. Unfortunately, Pluto didn't bring you down here to be captivated by my magnificent eyes, we're gathered here to discuss a very real danger that you and the young descendant of Caesar will soon need to face."_

Sasuke looked between the two supernatural beings and asked, "This is about what Pluto mentioned before right? About the moon?"

Pluto rose from his seat and walked over to the Sage's Tablet. As he stood there, with his back to Sasuke, he said, _**"Yes. Luna has all her pieces in place, and it's only a matter of time before she sets her plan of revenge into action, unfortunately the one you call Naruto has his mind focused elsewhere and is unaware of what's coming."**_

Before the seated Uchiha could say anything, Mania cut him off, _"However, as Pluto mentioned before, once he returns home his patron will be able to contact him and explain everything...in fact they've already interacted once before."_

"When?" Sasuke asked, his face a mask of curiosity.

"_During his mission to the place you call Wave Country, where he discovered his heritage, the voice of Anchises spoke to him and showed him a vision of what is soon to come."_

Sasuke lowered his head in thought. Years ago, when he first entered the academy, the young Uchiha would have never guessed that he'd have a day like today. Gods and goddesses, angry moon spirits planning to exterminate the world, the blonde dead-last being someone of importance...it all just seemed so unreal.

"_**I assure you young Sasuke, this is all **_**very ****_real," _**Pluto chimed in after hearing his offspring's thoughts, _**"but rest assured that, once Luna's chosen one has been defeated, your world will know peace."**_

This caught the raven-haired chunin's attention. He thought he was going to have to face off against the moon spirit itself, "Chosen one?"

"_Yes, boy, did you really think you'd be facing a being of supernatural power with your puny human limits? Ha, Luna would squash you like a bug, but fortunately for you we have rules that we must follow as well. So instead, she has chosen a man to act upon her behalf, like she did with the one you call the Sage Of Six Paths; only this time his goal is not to bring peace but to destroy."_

"And who would that be?" Sasuke asked.

Pluto finally turned away from the tablet on the wall, and answered the young man's question, _**"A young man that goes by the name of Pain."**_

**oo0oo**

Anko walked silently through the halls of the embassy as she made her way towards the room she'd been told housed the blonde Uzumaki. While not entirely sure what he wanted with her, the Special-Jounin had a feeling it had something to do with the meeting he was supposed to have tomorrow with the Konoha Council.

As she turned another corner Anko's pupil-less, light-brown eyes caught site of the stern red-head standing guard at one of the doors down the hall.

__'Guess that's his room then,'__she thought sarcastically to herself. Walking forward Anko lifted a hand in greeting as she called out, "Hey, Blondie wanted to see me for something?"

The red-head, Tayuya if memory served, turned to look at her; what she saw surprised her a little. Tayuya's eyes held a strong light of annoyance in their hazel depths.

"You will address the Imperator with only the utmost respect Anko-san."

Anko scratched behind her head as she replied, "Um, sorry, but can I go in? The message I got said something about a mutual interest and I'd like to know what me and your..._Imperator_ have in common."

Tayuya reached behind her and knocked on the door, alerting the man inside as she called out, "That woman you sent for, Anko, has arrived."

"Good, send her in."

With the door opened for her, Anko stepped through the entrance and entered into Naruto's room. As she looked around the Special-Jounin immediately took notice of how the blonde was standing at his window, staring out into the village below.

"So, what does the mighty Caesar want with a lowly kunoichi of the Leaf?" Anko asked skeptically.

But Naruto didn't answer right away. In fact, the entire room was silent for almost a full five minutes before he said anything, "...why do you fight for this village?"

The question through Anko off, she hadn't been expecting something like that, the purple-haired woman figured the man would ask her about the Council and any weaknesses he could exploit.

"I...I don't understand the question."

Now Naruto turned around, fixing his guest with his piercing cobalt gaze, "Why not, it's a rather simple question. Why do you fight for the Hidden Leaf village?"

"Because I am a member of its shinobi force, it is the duty of all ninja of Konoha to fight for and defend the village."

"And what made you decide to become a ninja? Why did you decide to put your life on the line for this particular village?"

Anko was starting to get angry. This guy wasn't giving her a straight answer, he answered her question with a question, and now he just kept asking them. What was his point? "Look, what does it matter _why_, maybe I didn't wanna be somebody's housewife or a lowly shop keeper, okay, how about that?"

"Yes, I suppose that could be it, but what about after the _incident_? The one with Orochimaru. After you were brought back to Konoha the people looked at you with suspicion, they still do, even your fellow ninja don't fully trust you. So why continue to fight for them?"

"Because, it doesn't matter what they think, I know I'm not a traitor." was Anko's curt response.

But Naruto had seen it. He had seen the little flash of pain in her eyes, the pain that expressed the _real _reason, so he shook his head and asked again, "No, that's the 'reason' you practiced saying to yourself in the mirror; tell me, why do you fight for them?"

"I just told you why idiot, there is no hidden reason!"

"Anko, _why_ do you fight for them?"

With a growl the older woman turned around and began to make her way towards the door, "This is stupid, leave me alone if you don't wanna talk sensibly."

"If you just keep running away then the pain you fell will never go fade Anko, I'm trying to help you."

This made the woman stop. She stood stock still, with her hand just out of reach of the doorknob, and her head bowed.

Seeing this, the young Roman pressed forward, "You don't have to lie to me, Anko, I understand better than anyone what you went through...what you still go through. You don't fight because it's the right thing, you fight because you think it'll make these people change their opinion about you; make them see that you are someone they can place trust in. But they won't ever see it, and not because they _can't_or _need more time__, _no, they won't see it because they refuse to see it."

The silence that followed seemed to last for hours. Neither occupant said a word. Naruto stayed silent so as to let his words sink in, and Anko because she was fighting with herself on what to do next. After fifteen minutes, she chose.

Lowering her hand she said, "After I was placed on another genin team, we hardly received any D-ranked mission, because people didn't want Orochimaru's pet slithering around their house. When we finally made it to the chunin exams, and I had to face my own team-mate in the third exam, he wholeheartedly tried to kill me...I later learned that he'd done so on orders of our Jounin instructor; he'd conditioned him into thinking I was a spy for my former mentor."

"...That must have been awful, I'm so sorry you had to go through that."

But Anko wasn't done, she turned to Naruto with tears threatening to fall and continued, "That's not even the worst part. My team-mate and I, w-we used to be friends...he even gave me this necklace, telling me how he thought that 'not all snakes are dangerous'. H-He made me feel normal..."

"...and then the village turned him against you. So why fight for them when they've taken everything from you?"

Anko had lowered her head again during her story, and so when she noticed brown boots in her vision she looked up, and was met with Naruto's armored chest. Then she felt warmth, as a hand was placed against her cheek and lifted her face, so that brown eyes met blue.

"Why fight for those who do not respect you, do not treasure your worth, why continue to be unhappy when there are other options?"

"...like serving you?" Anko's teary eyes hardened a little, "I'm not gonna be one of your little toys, so if that's what you're looking for-"

"No," he cut her off, "nothing like that. My offer is true, I value skill, and you have that in overwhelming amounts. Your abilities are wasted here, you don't make a difference and you are unhappy...I'm offering you a chance at both."

"...what would I have to do then?"

**oo0oo**

Anko stood in the grassy field of one of Konoha's training grounds. Across from her was one of Naruto's Centurion guards, while the man himself stood off to the side with Tayuya.

"So all I have to do is beat this guy?"

"If you beat him, you can take Tayuya's place, I'm just asking you to _survive _against Durio."

The Special-Jounin sent the blonde a weary glare, but her attention was soon returned to the man across from her when he cleared his throat. "Whenever you are ready, we may begin."

Anko pulled two kunai from her coat sleeves and entered into her _Serpent_ stance. Smirking she replied, "Give me your best shot."

Before she could blink, Anko was blocking an overhead strike. However she hadn't been expecting the blow to be as strong as it was, and she dropped her knife. Next she was twisting out of the way as her opponent went to run her through with his sword, but here she found an opening, and retaliated with a right-hook.

The Centurion ducked under the attack and drove the pommel of his gladius into Anko's side...only for the woman to dissolve into mud. Immediately after Durio jumped into the air to avoid being constricted by a pair of snakes that burst through the ground, and then barely twisted away from Anko as she too shot from the ground a few feet past the snakes.

Once on the ground again Anko sent a hail of kunai at the Centurion, but the man managed to block them all wit his sword. So, weaving through hand-signs, she called out her next attack, "_**Great Fireball jutsu**_."

She watched as it sailed through the air towards her opponent, her mind already thinking ahead to what to do after he dodged it.

**oo0oo**

Naruto and Tayuya walked through the streets of Konoha, the night sky helping to cool Naruto and his fellow Roman. The blonde was dressed in a padded, leather version of his breastplate while his lower-body was adorned in just his pteruges and boots. It had been too hot to wear full armor during training.

Anko had done as well as he'd expected, and in some regards even better than he'd hoped. The blonde had informed her of the transport that would be waiting beyond the gates, and if she so decided, Anko would be more than welcome to take a seat in it.

The former apprentice of Orochimaru told him she had to think about it.

But Naruto didn't worry, even without Anko, Shikamaru was sure to have gotten him the ANBU he'd asked for. Then there was Ino. He had not seen the platinum blonde since catching sight of her during his first day in the Leaf, he had no time, but Naruto would make it a point to send a clone to her later that night.

"You seem in good spirits Imperator." Tayuya spoke from his right.

Turning to her, his eyes dancing with mischief, he replied, "When the entire world is rolling into your hands how can one _not_ be happy?"

The rest of the walk was done in silence, but the descendant of Caesar didn't mind. It let him think about the meeting he was about to have with Tsunade.

Naruto hoped that Tsunade would be willing to side with him. The woman was like the mother he never had, and it would feel...unpleasant, if he were forced to cut her down because she chose to stand in his way. These thoughts ran through his mind even after they entered the Hokage's home.

They were greeted by a pair of ANBU and taken upstairs to the room in which they'd be meeting in. Once Naruto and Tayuya reached the door, the blonde turned to their escorts and said, "I'll feel a lot more comfortable with my guard inside with me. I know this probably means you two will have to come along as well, but if you're loyal to the Hokage I don't see that as being too much of a problem."

With that, the group of four walked inside.

As he stepped through the entry way Naruto was greeted with the sight of Tsunade, seated on the floor, behind a small with a bottle of Sake and two cups on it. Shizune stood off to the side, next to a bigger table with food on it; including ramen, and Ton-Ton, the Hokage's ever faithful pet, was seated in the blonde woman's lap.

Tsunade looked at the assembled group with a raised eyebrow, "I didn't think you wanted ANBU at this meeting Naruto."

"Personally, I don't, but I'm also not opposed to the idea so long as they are loyal to you."

Tsunade's response was to wave the men away, knowing she was safe with the two who had entered the room. Once the guards had been dismissed she motioned for her fellow blonde to take a seat, as he sat, Shizune came over with small platters of food.

While Naruto thanked her and ate some of the rice, Tsunade opened the discussion, "So Naruto, what is it that I can do for you?"

The young Roman ignored Tayuya's grunt at Tsunade's refusal to call him Caesar and replied, "I suppose it'll be best I I just get straight to the point Tsunade; I want you to abandon Konoha and ally yourself under the Roman banner."

"And why should I do that? Not that it isn't great to see you again Naruto, but what reason do I have to forsake the village _you_ fought so hard to bring me back to. It doesn't make sense."

Naruto waved off her offer of sake as she pored herself some, choosing instead to eat a mouthful of ramen from his bowl. He had to admit that the food she'd served was tasty, and was grateful she'd decided to cater the meeting, as he hadn't eaten much of anything all day.

After wiping his face of any mess the blonde answered, "Because if you don't, then you will fall along with the Leaf, and I'd rather not see you be destroyed protecting this rotted shadow of a village."

Tsunade's hazel eyes took on a sad gleam, "But...why? Why can't _you_ just annex us under your banner like you've done so many other places, and then help us rebuild back to what my grandfather envisioned the Hidden Leaf to be?"

Naruto's hard stare surprised the female Hokage, and his hard toned response made her sorry she'd asked, "If I do that, what kind of message does that send out about my empire? It tells everyone that we accept those who glorify traitors, and that even if you work hard and complete your mission you could still be tossed aside simply because someone wasn't happy with who you are. Well, sorry, but that's not the kind of empire I plan to run Tsunade."

"You're right, I wasn't thinking about how it might look on you, I'm sorry. It's just...my grandfather helped build this place with his own two hands, both he and my grand-uncle gave their life for the sake of this village, and now I'll be standing back and watching as their dreams go up in flames."

If Naruto was surprised at the buxom blonde's declaration of impending treason he didn't show it. Instead, he just replied, "So then you've decided."

It was a statement, not a question, he already knew the answer; he just wanted her to say it.

"...Yes, I've decided to let go of Konoha and side with you Naruto. Now, what's your next move?"

"As I've already told Tayuya here, I plan to turn the rest of the smaller nations against the Leaf village and let it slowly rot away until I'm good and ready to stamp out what's left of it."

Tsunade was a little disturbed at the younger blonde's thoughts. Was this really the same kid who had fought tooth and nail to defend Konoha from Orochimaru so long ago? _'No, that kid died the day the village cast him out. This isn't him anymore, he's grown up, this Naruto isn't looking at the world through kid-glasses anymore.'_

"And how do you plan to do that?" the former Hokage asked.

And so Naruto went on to explain the same plan he told Konohamaru and Shikamaru, to Tsunade, and let her drink it all in. Along with it though, he also began to explain his plans for the other ninja villages; including his coming attack on Oto.

By the end of it Tsunade was amazed at just how far Naruto's ambition reached. The young Roman truly intended to annex the whole of the Elemental Nations...by force if necessary!

Tsunade stared across the table, and directly into the cobalt-blue eyes that stared back at her. The pig-tailed blonde forcefully swallowed the lump in her throat as the staring contest continued...would the plan really work?

"But how do you know for sure that no innocent people will be hurt by this little game you intend to play with Danzo?"

The man across from her showed no sense of worry for the possibility that civilian lives could be lost during his and Danzo's little tussle. Instead, he opened his mouth and said, "Tsunade, you know as well as I that the word "innocent" doesn't really apply to many of these...heathens. But, rest assured, that those few that are have already been given instruction on what to do once that fools ROOT operatives make their attempt on my life."

Tsunade felt her eyebrows jump to the fringe of her hairline as she listened to her fellow blonde's words. So, there _were _still people he cared about in the Leaf village?

**oo0oo**

Naruto sighed as he walked through the entrance to his room. Tomorrow was the day his plan to bring Konoha to its knees began, and if everything went according to plan, the rest of the world would soon follow.

The blonde didn't _want _to have to use force to bring many of the other countries under the Roman banner, but with places such as Kumo and Iwa, Naruto felt there was no peaceful way to annex the people there. Naruto walked over to the basin of water Tayuya had left for him and used the rag in it to clean the sweat from his brow. It had been exceptionally hot today and even walking around in training armor did nothing to aid in Naruto's plight. His home wasn't nearly this scorching.

As the blonde thought of his home, and how he'd soon be returning to it and beginning to prep for battle, the young Roman's eyes hardened as he sensed another presence in his room.

"Your skills in stealth have increased tremendously if you were able to get in here without Tayuya noticing...unless you've been here the whole time."

"I came in while you were out training with your guard," a gentle female voice replied in a whisper.

Naruto didn't turn around, he had no need, his guest wasn't here to do him any harm, "What do you want Hinata?"

The figure exited from the shadows, revealing themselves to indeed be Hinata, but instead of her normally fierce visage the teenage heiress wore a look of distress. Her eyes were glossed over with unshed tears, but the bluenette beauty knew not to let them fall, for it would only diminish her in the eyes of her love.

So, after steadying her breathing, Hinata asked, "Why...why, in all the days you've been here have you not come for me? Am I truly such a disappointment to you that you wish to have nothing to do with me?"

The silence that followed seemed to stretch on forever. Neither one of them moved, and the fact that Naruto didn't respond only made Hinata all the more upset.

"...You ask why _I _did not come to you, and yet, only _now_ you make an effort to see?"

Lavender eyes burned with tears as Hinata replied, "I made an attempt to see you the day you arrived in the village, but by the time I made it to where you were staying, you had already left. I searched for you when I heard you had gone to one of the training grounds but wasn't able to find you there either...I-I spent all day looking."

"And yet you gave up during the following days."

"I-I assumed, you would send for me, so as to see how I've progressed during your absence-"

"It was a test," the blonde cut her off, "to see if you truly had changed. To show me that you would continue on even if things didn't go your way; to prove your devotion. And you failed."

Hinata shuffled closer to the blonde, her feet shuffling along the carpet, and with a choked voice she asked, "F-Failed? B-But...I'm here. These past few days all that's been on my mind was finding you, and fixing what I'd broken."

By this time the young woman had gotten close enough to where she was able to place her hand atop Naruto's shoulder, but when the young Roman felt her cool touch, he jerked away; turning sharply so that they were now face to face. The look in his eyes was like nothing Hinata had ever seen.

The cold, cobalt-blue that she remembered was gone. In its place were the ocean-blue gems the Hyuga heiress had seen during their childhood at the academy. They were filled to the brim with emotion, paramount among them being pain and hurt, but there were traces of sorrow and mistrust shining through as well. Then she noticed his face.

Naruto's stone-wall visage had crumbled, the hard planes giving way to a clenched jaw and a heavily furrowed brow. The violet-haired kunoichi was so caught up in the sight that she almost missed the fledgling emperor's next words.

"Now? You wish to mend all that you have broken _now_? What of the three years I traveled this continent, did you not think to fix things between us then?"

Hinata's own brow furrowed in confusion, "But how would I-" she was again cut off, though this time by being shoved aside.

"Fool, even Tsunade sent letters using her summoning, did you not think to ask and do the same?"

"Could you not have done the same!? You say I was the one who made no attempt, yet _you _did not write to _me _either." Hinata remarked. She would not be held full responsible for this.

But the descendant of Caesar would not let up in his anger, eyeing the woman harshly he growled, "_I _wasn't the one that destroyed what we had; it was you who failed, you who could not be trusted. And yet you made no attempt to fix the gap between us, instead letting the wound you caused fester and become rancid."

"_Nothing_? Do you truly believe I spent the last three years doing _nothing_? Over the course of your banishment I have spent all of my time training my mind as well as my body, so that when we met again I would be the weapon you needed; the one that would never break...not again."

Another stretch of silence followed, though this time, the tension had thickened enough that it had almost become palpable. The pressure seeming to suffocate the occupants in the room.

It was Naruto who again broke that silence, "...I didn't want a weapon Hinata."

For the second time Hinata's face contorted in confusion, "I-I don't understand. Y-You told me-"

"I know what I said, but it wasn't until Konoha forced me out that I understood what I wanted. In spite of what it may seemed like back then, it wasn't that I wanted a weapon, I wanted someone I could trust."

**(The entire story being told here will be explained in a side-story I intend to do about Naruto's journey. I was going to make it part of this story, but decided not to; can't really remember why.)**

Seeing her about to respond, Naruto held up his hand to silence her, he wasn't done. "I've never told anyone this, not even Tayuya, but...I had no idea what I was really doing in the beginning. I may have seemed like I was in control, but really, I was taking shots in the dark and hoping they stuck. It got worse after I was banished, because I had to start from scratch...and that's when I realized just how much I'd taken on."

"During those days I _had _to forge myself into what the world knows now as Caesar, I had to become cold and calculating, or else risk failing in my dream to reconstruct that which my ancestors fought and died to create...I couldn't let that happen. And yet, to do that, I also had to turn off my heart and detach myself from the feelings that clouded my mind...I had to let go of _you_. My mind ran wild with thoughts of hurt and betrayal after I learned you had fallen to such foolishness; if the one person I was supposed to trust above all others fell so easily, who's to say all those that came after wouldn't do the same?"

By this time the two were inches from each other. During Naruto's story Hinata had slowly made her way over to the man who, even after years of alienation, still held her heart. The Hyuga heiress stared into the eyes she'd had drams of for years, and seeing how much hurt, and anguish plagued their sapphire depths Hinata wanted nothing more than to take all that pain away.

"Over the years," he continued, "I've encountered many different women. Some, such as Tayuya and Fu, I've taken to bed with me; even Tamari, who I've married so as to annex Suna. And yet, no matter how pleasurable the experience, there always seemed to be something missing. An emptiness none of them could fill; and then I realized why...and yet it only caused me greater pain. They weren't you."

For the first time in years Hinata felt heat spread across her face. In the beginning, she was hurt to hear that the man she loved had already given himself to other women; while she herself had stayed pure for him. But then, as she listened to the rest of his recount, Hinata's heart swelled with hope until finally her entire body felt like it might burst. And then he said it.

"They weren't the one I loved."

With those three words Hinata could no longer hold back her tears. And so, three years of sorrow, shame, longing and love streamed down her porcelain cheeks in waves. Then, slowly as if any sudden moves would cause him to disappear, Hinata encircled her arms around Naruto's upper-body and held him; her tears being absorbed by the leather armor.

Naruto was just about to match her embrace, when suddenly his eyes hardened and he threw her towards the bed. While Hinata let out a yelp of surprise the blonde leaped to the side to avoid being run through by a ninjato.

Unsheathing his gladius the young Roman eyed his attacker. The enemy was dressed much like an ANBU member, but his mask was different; it did not resemble an animal, it was simply a blank face with the kanji for ROOT stamped on the forehead.

"So then, it seems Danzo wanted to get things started early. Though I am insulted that he felt only one of you was sufficient enough to end my life."

The ROOT member did not speak, he simply lunged at his target with the intent to kill. However, before he could even reach Naruto, the door crashed open and he was forced to leap back so as to avoid being decapitated by Tayuya. The red-head then positioned herself in front of her leader, her hazel eyes alight with fury.

**oo0oo**

_**A/N: And there it is, the next chapter to Rise. It took me less time than I thought to type this up, though I started and stopped a lot over the weeks because I would feel stuck. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it.**_

_**Something I really wanna mention is this: I didn't look up the historical connections the Naruto series had to real life...because that just seemed to take away from the fictional aspect of the manga. Also, I feel as if the time frame could technically be set in an early period or a later period; there are stories where all of modern civilization has long since decayed and the Naruto world is what came next. So please, don't tell me about those things, because it just doesn't matter in this case.**_

_**Oh, and I have another story, called Demon of the Hidden Leaf. I'd be grateful if you guys could check that out and tell me what you think of what I have so far. That story will be broken up into two parts, but I only have the first two chapters up right now.**_


	16. Amor castus permanens

_**Rise, Son of Rome**_

_**Ch. 16- Amor castus permanens**_

_**(A love that endures)**_

**oo0oo**

Tayuya's eyes stayed trained on the masked assassin in front of her as she called behind her, "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine, the fool gave himself away early enough that I managed to escape unscathed." Naruto replied from his place at his guard's back. "Though I really find it rather insulting that Danzo thought I could be killed by just one of his little puppets."

"I am the best warrior Danzo-sama has ever trained; I will be more than enough for the likes of you." the masked assailant said in a cool tone. With that he jumped forward to engage Tayuya.

The ROOT member attempted to end the fight quickly by going for her throat, but the red-head was easily able to parry the attack with her gladius. She then countered with a left-hook, but the false ANBU was fast, and she missed him by a hair.

However, before the man could make his own attempt to counter he was forced to roll away, so as not to be hit by a palm-strike from Hinata. When he finally rolled to a stop the Konriu studied his opposition, and weighed his chances of success. Danzo-sama had briefed him and Sai on the prowess of the Hyuga heiress, seeing as she was a potential threat, and so the assassin knew that she was dangerous.

Unfortunately they had no data on the red-head; and heading into a fight blind is never a good idea. _'Damn it, where is Sai?'_

As if to answer his prayers a second figure dropped from the ceiling and tackled Hinata to the ground. This caused Tayuya to look over in alarm, and gave Konriu his chance. The masked shinobi leaped forward, his blade poised to run his enemy through, but Tayuya saw him out of the corner of her eye and jumped backwards towards the window.

But this was what Konriu wanted.

The man moved like lightning, swinging his sword to the right, and aiming to separate Naruto's body into two halves...until said blonde stopped the sword with his bare hand.

Konriu's eyes widened a fraction beneath his porcelain mask. How had he been stopped; and why wasn't Sai helping him? Chancing a look behind, the ROOT member saw his partner still on the floor, the Hyuga girl buried underneath him...why wasn't he moving?

The answer came when Hinata pushed the young man's body off of her. There was a bloody splotch staining the abdominal area of Sai's uniform; but there looked to be no open wound.

_'She must have ruptured his stomach with her Gentle-Fist once he tackled her. But, I don't understand, how is she still alive? Sai should have easily incapacitated her during that fall.'_ Konriu thought to himself.

Hinata seemed to read his mind, because as she rose from the blood-stained carpet she asnwered his question, "During my time under Tsunade-sama I learned that I had the sensory ability, and while not as well developed as some, mine was still more than enough to alert me to you and your partner's presence. I was ready for him."

"And yet you did not alert the blonde?" the assassin questioned.

"Because she was smart." Naruto exclaimed, drawing his attacker's attention. "She knew that I'd want one of you alive, and if she tried to alert me, one or both of you would have seen it and run off."

Konriu snorted indignantly, "Feh, like it matters. You really think you'll get me to talk?"

The mocking laughter to his left reminded the ROOT member that there was a second female in the room. Her laughter sent an unpleasant chill up is spine.

"Talk? What kind of information would we want from you? No, we just need you for a little...show and tell later." Tayuya explained. Then, before Konriu could react, Hinata hit a pressure point in his neck that knocked him unconscious.

With the failed assassination dealt with, Naruto addressed his two warrior women, "Good work you two; Hinata you were a little messy, but considering the circumstances it's okay. Now, let's clean up this fool covered in his own blood, and then we'll discuss what to do about our little friend here."

The gleam in the blonde Roman's eyes was unfamiliar to Hinata, but when she looked over to Tayuya, she noticed that the red-head looked at him with a shark-like grin.

**oo0oo**

While the real Naruto was dealing with an attempt on his life, a clone was making his way through the dark streets towards his destination. The Yamanaka home.

The clone had been tasked with finding Ino and bringing her back into the fold. Right now it stood inside the blonde woman's room, having come in through the window, and was waiting for her to walk through the door.

Looking over at the clock that hung up on the wall, the clone saw that he'd been waiting for about fifteen minutes. _'I suppose it's not so bad, considering I can hear them having dinner downstairs.'_ Thankfully, it was only another ten minutes before Naruto's clone heard the door rattle.

Cobalt eyes watched the wooden slab as it was pushed in, and the clone's ears took in Ino's voice as she thanked her mother for dinner. "Maybe next time you can try not to overcook it," she mumbled to herself. The pony-tailed blonde closed the door and turned...only to have her own blue eyes widen at what greeted her.

Naruto's clone chuckled and replied to her mumbling, "Well soon you won't have to worry about that Ino, because after tomorrow you'll be eating real food."

"M-Master...is it really you?"

"You seem surprised Ino. What, did you think I'd forgotten about you?"

Ino didn't know what to say. On one hand yes, she did think the Roman had forgotten her, but Ino also knew that to voice such a belief would show weakness. And weakness was something her Master had no need of. So she kept silent.

The clone could see the conflict in his follower's gaze, and it told him all he needed to know. Unfortunately, being a clone, he knew that he could not provide the comfort Ino needed. Sighing in resignation Naruto's clone spoke again. "I see. Apologies Ino but, I am only a clone of my creator, and am unfit to have this conversation with you. However, tomorrow afternoon you may speak with the Imperator if you wish."

Ino's eyes turned down to look at her carpet. _'He didn't even come to see me himself?'_ Looking up at what she now knew was a clone, the Yamanaka heiress asked, "Where can I meet him?"

"Before I give that information to you Ino I have to know...do you still desire to serve under the Imperator's banner?"

For Ino this was a surprise. He asked her? The blonde warrior was going to give her a choice? But...wasn't this what she'd wanted all three years; why she went through hours of grueling training? So, looking into her Master's eyes Ino answered, "Yes."

Naruto's clone nodded his understanding. "Very well, then you may speak with him at the caravan that will be posted about twenty miles east of here in the small village of Shien." With his job finished the clone made to dispel himself, but Ino had one more question.

"Wait. The reason he didn't come to see me himself...what was it?"

The clone could see the hurt in her eyes, "He had a meetings all day, it's likely that my creator was simply tired and wished to get some rest. He has a busy day tomorrow." and then he dispersed.

Ino stared at the space where her Master's clone had just been standing. While she'd gotten her answer...she still felt an emptiness inside.

**oo0oo**

"So it's settled then. Tayuya you'll take this swine over to one of the training grounds and get him ready for my little demonstration in the morning, then, after I've called out Danzo on his little scheme we'll drop the fools body from the window for all to see." Naruto explained to the two women in front of him.

While Tayuya looked ecstatic about her part in the plan, Hinata looked wary about the idea. The Hyuga heiress decided to voice her thoughts, "But Naruto-kun won't that just make Danzo-san angry, and give him cause to turn the village against you?"

"That's the idea Princess." Tayuya replied. "That mummified old fool will use it as tinder to fan the flames of the village's anger, but the Imperator has already sent out men from our camp to spread word of the Leaf's attempt on his life. So while it may look like he killed a shinobi of Konoha, the rest of the world will know better, and it'll only get worse after the Imperator lets them get a few shots in."

This last bit of new alarmed the Hyuga heiress and caused her to turn her pupil-less eyes towards her blonde love. The young Roman immediately took notice of her expression and explained. "Hinata I need to suffer some form of injury while inside the village to make the attack more believable. Then, from there, I can use Princess Yuki's newly created satellite to send a message to each of my provinces relaying the treachery of the Leaf."

"S-Satellite?" she asked in confusion.

The descendant of Cesar nodded, "That's right. Koyuki's village has come up with a way to send out images on a screen through a series of electromagnetic waves; it's new, but effective for broadcasting news quickly to a widespread population. I've supplied many of my provinces with them, and those that haven't gotten a hold of the technology yet will be informed through word of mouth."

Hearing how far the village of Spring had come technologically sent Hinata's mind whirling. Even the Hyuga clan didn't have such luxuries! Shaking her head to get herself back to the present, Hinata's eyes still held a look of discomfort as she eyed Naruto.

Seeing that it would take more to reassure the violet-haired woman of his safety Naruto sighed and turned to Tayuya. "I'd like you to get started now Tayuya, take the fool and have your fun. But _don't _go overboard; he needs to be recognizable to Danzo so that he knows how badly he failed."

Tayuya saluted her Imperator and hauled the unconscious ROOT member over her shoulder. With one last look at her blonde superior, the red-head vanished in a ripple of air.

Hinata saw this and sent a confused look in Naruto's direction. He saw this and replied to her unspoken question, "Tayuya's shunshin is done through sound waves instead of smoke. It's one of the things unique to her, something she picked up during her time as an Oto ninja."

"Oh...N-Naruto-kun, did you mean what you said before?"

The blonde in question looked to his companion and eyed her. He knew what she was talking about; it was probably there even as he was being attacked. After so many years apart, and leaving on such unfavorable terms, it's no wonder she'd be wary of his declaration.

"Do you believe I meant what I said Hinata?"

His reversal made the kunoichi look away, so that she wasn't staring directly into Naruto's endless blue eyes. She'd forgotten how powerful his gaze was. "I-I'd like to it's just...after what happened-"

"That's in the past now." he cut her off. "And I'd like for it to stay there; wouldn't you? Besides, look at yourself Hinata, you've become such a powerful kunoichi since that incident. I have faith that you can redeem yourself once you've been let loose on the battlefield."

At this the Roman leader stepped over towards the silent heiress. When he was within inches of her, Naruto cupped her chin in his hand and lifted her head. Blue met lavender as their gazes locked. Naruto watched as Hinata's porcelain skin flushed a rosy pink, and his eyes danced with mirth as she swallowed a gasp. "In the short time we spent together before I left, I never once showed you just how much you meant to me...how close I truly hold you to heart."

Hinata could feel her heart beat rapidly in her chest, how it beat against her rib cage in an effort to free itself from her body. She'd spent many nights dreaming of this moment, hearing her blonde love say such words, and as it played out before her Hinata knew...this was beyond any dream. This was real; and it was beautiful. "You were under pressure, I understood that. It was enough for me...to just be there by your side. Even now, you could have left it at forgiving me and it would have been enough, this...this is more than I deserve."

"No." Naruto shook his head. "It's not even close."

The armored blonde began to lower his head, the height difference making itself known as Hinata stood on her toes to meet him half-way. The Hyuga heiress let her eyes flutter shut, mirroring the actions of her love, and for a few brief seconds all there was in the world were her heartbeat and the heat of Naruto's breath across her skin. Finally the trance was broken, and their lips met.

Rough met smooth as the two drank in the others emotions. Three years of love, devotion, suffering and heartache passed between them as their lips melded together.

Hinata felt a tingle move up her spine and she gripped the leather armor of her lover to keep herself from falling to her knees. Her breathing halted, as if she'd forgotten how at the touch of Naruto's lips. It was too much, and soon she was forced to pull away. Taking in deep breaths through her nose Hinata looked up to see if Naruto had been as effected.

Smoldering eyes, overflowing with emotion greeted her.

Naruto's eyes, which had returned to their smooth, ocean-blue had now darkened into a deep, almost purple, navy-blue. But it wasn't just the color that made Hinata's breath catch in her throat; no, it was the emotions that swirled in their depths. Paramount among them was lust, and a desire unlike anything the Hyuga heiress had ever seen before.

Naruto's breath was coming in short, shallow bursts. His head was swimming from the carnal hunger that had exploded throughout his brain the minute he tasted the beautiful kunoichi's lips. It was unlike anything he'd ever experienced.

He'd told Hinata the truth when he said that, during his time away, he'd taken multiple women to bed. But none had ever provoked such a strong reaction before. It only hardened his belief that Hinata was special. Looking down at the Hyuga heiress, Naruto could see the want and the love that seemed to be filling her pupil-less eyes to the brim. Unable to hold back any longer Naruto dove down and reclaimed her lips.

Hinata's gasp was choked down as her love took possession of her lips again. Only this time, he drew her up, his hands finding her hips and lifting her so that Hinata was forced to stretch so as to make up for the difference in height. Her legs burned from the over-extension but she forcefully ignored it, her mind choosing instead to focus on the pleasure that being so close to Naruto brought her.

She whimpered softly as his large hands gripped tightly against her hips, and she could feel her lips swell as the former Leaf shinobi took complete control of their kiss. He dominated her, pushing his tongue passed and into the cavern of her mouth, and from there he explored.

Naruto let his tongue graze over the roof of Hinata's mouth, and he felt how the young kunoichi shivered under his fingertips before he went searching for her tongue. She responded shyly to his probing and his tongue quickly overpowered her's, running circles around it before the blonde pulled back. Naruto only looked down at Hinata briefly before hoisting her up by the hips and carrying her over to the bed.

Hinata felt the silk sheets give way as she was set down among them, surrounding her in a sea of white. But her attention was quickly turned to the man that hovered above her; Naruto loomed over her, sitting upright on his knees. Even with her face flushed from their make-out session, Hinata could still feel the increased heat that came with her embarrassment. Why did he have to stare so intently?

Unable to hold his powerful gaze any longer the shy heiress looked away, bringing the fingers of one hand up to her lips, where she quickly captured a knuckle between her teeth. When her blonde love chuckled, she thought he was mocking her, and Hinata closed her eyes in shame. _'I kept saying I was different, and yet I can't even look at him.'_

Any other thoughts were interrupted by Naruto's voice filling the air. "Hinata you have no idea how much it lifts my heart to see you so innocent. After so much time spent with hard-faced soldiers and enemies it's...refreshing."

His words caused Hinata's pale eyes to snap open as she turned to look up at blonde. "You mean you're not upset that I'm not like the...others?"

"No, in fact it makes me glad." Naruto's hand cradled Hinata's cheek, his thumb tracing small circles over the delicate skin. " The other women were nothing like you; they all wanted to be rough and active. But that's not my style. While I may be a hardened soldier out in the world, I prefer to be gentle when alone with those close to me. I let the other girls have their way, but, I always felt as if I wasn't able to give them enough attention. Hinata...will you let me love you?"

Hearing Naruto say those things, and having him ask what she wanted, made Hinata's heart swell with the love she'd fostered for her blonde warrior. With a demure smile the Hyuga heiress nodded, giving the okay for Naruto to do as he pleased. She'd never imagined Naruto would be so gentle.

Seeing her give the okay Naruto set to work immediately in displaying his affection. He leaned down and took her lips into a soft kiss, while bringing his hands up under her black t-shirt. His hands came into contact with the velvety smooth skin of her sides and he ghosted his thumbs in circles at the places where her hips started. By this time Naruto felt the need for air again and pulled away from Hinata's lips, only to dive down again, but this time with his target being her slender neck.

Naruto's lips captured a small patch of flesh between them, and from there the blonde let his teeth gently nibble down on the spot, periodically switching with his tongue which heatedly lashed against the Hyuga heiress' tender skin. He was spurred on by the gasps and whimpers that sounded from the squirming body underneath him.

Hinata had never felt like this before. It was as if her body were on fire. With just the span of a few minutes Naruto had turned her from a hardened warrior to a simpering bundle of nerves; nerves that were alive and charged by the pleasure of the blonde's actions. Then Hinata's ears picked up the sounds that were echoing throughout the hotel room. _'A-Are those...Is that me? How could I let myself make those kinds of sounds -gasp- but, i-it feels so good. Not even my dreams felt this good, -whimper- oh Naruto-ku—' _"Oooh!"

The violet-haired woman's thoughts were brought to a screeching halt, and mixing with her cry of wanton pleasure was the sound of Naruto as he began to lay siege to the place Hinata's neck met her shoulder. He wrapped his lips around the ivory skin and began to suck, as if trying to bring forth all the pleasure held in that single space. And by the sounds of things, it was working.

Hinata began to trash wildly under this new attack. Her dreams consisted of the basic understanding she had of a sexual experience, never something like _this_. The fare-skinned kunoichi was unprepared for such a move and the immense pleasure it wrought. Unfortunately, her lover didn't spend too much time on that spot, and all too soon Naruto pulled away to look into Hinata's eyes.

What he saw was a large boost to the jinchuuriki's ego. Hinata's eyes were lidded and hazy with pleasure while her face had gone from a rosy pink, to a fiery red. The Hyuga heiress' lips were still swollen from their last lip lock, and he could hear the deep breaths she was taking to recover from his latest assault. Smirking gently, Naruto leaned down to place a chaste kiss on Hinata's flushed forehead before whispering against the skin, "That was only the beginning, there's much more to come my love."

At that Naruto turned his attention to Hinata's form as a whole, finally taking in just how much she'd changed in the three years since he'd been gone. Gone was the heavy parka that she used to hide her upper-body, right now it was replaced by a thin, black t-shirt that was beginning to cling to her skin. This let the blonde Roman's eyes see the outline of her curves as well as the impressive swell of her breasts. Turning his eyes down, Naruto saw that her legs were dressed in deep-purple, skin-tight pants that ended just past her knees; giving him a perfect idea of what her milky-white thighs would look like without the pants there to hide them. On her feet were shinobi style sandals.

When Naruto began to slide down the bed Hinata began to panic, thinking that he had been displeased with what he saw, but before she could voice her concerns it soon became clear that, that wasn't the case. His warm hands gripped her waist, and then trailed down her legs as the armored blonde continued towards the foot of the bed; her thin pants doing nothing to shield her from the warmth that radiated from his palms.

Once he reached the edge of the bed Naruto stood up. After reassuring Hinata that it wasn't anything she'd done the blonde Roman set about removing his armor. He started with his boots, letting them quickly drop to the floor, before unfastening the clasp that held his pteruges in place around his waste. From there it was just a matter of undoing the clips that held his leather armor to his chest, and then slipping it over his head, before the mighty soldier was left in just his crimson tunic and his bracers. Looking down at Hinata, Naruto's lustful eyes scaled up and down her lithe form, trying to find where best to start. _'Well, you start at the bottom everywhere else, why not here too.'_

Kneeling down at the edge Naruto hooked one hand underneath the calve of Hinata's left leg, before raising it up into the air. Hinata looked down her nose, and passed the edge of the bed to watch and see what her lovers next move was.

Naruto eyed the foot in front of him curiously. He'd never done something like this with any of the other women he was with; Tayuya always desired to ride on top of him, Fu was more into giving him oral pleasure before being rammed, Haruna was surprisingly too shy to try certain things, and Temari was strictly a missionary type of girl. This would be the first time he'd done this, but he remembered Jiraiya mentioning it while they searched for Tsunade.

_'Something about how it only worked with certain girls, and that those kinds are hard to find. Guess we'll see.' _he thought as he began to undoing the straps that held the sandal in place. Once those were out of the way Naruto slowly slid the piece of footwear off, and as her foot was bared, the blonde leaned forward and planted a gentle kiss over the top. He smirked when the smooth appendage twitched from the contact.

From there Naruto set about lavishing the Hyuga heiress' entire foot with kisses until he reached the tips of her toes. As he arrived there, the blonde tried another experiment. He slid the smallest one between his lips and sucked on it; like he had the spot on her neck. The sounds that reached his ears let him know he'd done something right.

Up at the head of the bed Hinata watched with unbelieving eyes as her lifelong love set about kissing her foot, and they widened even further as each one sent shocks of pleasure shooting up through her leg and into her abdomen. As the kisses continued Hinata felt a heat begin to pool inside of her stomach; her fingers gripped the silk sheets tightly as the fire grew in intensity. And then Naruto turned his attention to her toes.

The fire inside raged, and her fists clenched down until her knuckles felt ready to pop. Hinata had no idea she was so sensitive. She mewled in pleasure as the unusual act sent arcs of pleasurable electricity coursing through her body. The pleasure only increased as Naruto began to trace the squirming digits with his tongue, Hinata could feel the heat travel from her stomach to down between her legs, and from there she could feel her body reacting to the pleasurable feelings; her juices were beginning to stain through her pants.

Naruto's enhanced sense of smell easily caught the scent of the bluenette's arousal, and it spurred him on into continuing his exploration. Letting her left leg drop the blonde removed the other shoe and then began to slither back up the bed. Naruto nipped and licked at the smooth flesh of Hinata's calves, while his fingertips slowly traced the sides of her seemingly endless legs until finally he reached her knees. Looking up towards the head of the bed the former Leaf ninja smirked as he took in the sight of his flushed lover.

Hinata lay flat on her back, one hand over her eyes while the other gripped tightly to the bed. Behind her hand the young woman's pearl-like eyes were squeezed shut while she panted, desperate to control herself.

Looking back down at her body Naruto quickly noticed the darkened patch at the crotch of the Hyuga girl's pants, but decided that he'd save that spot for later. Instead, the blonde continued upwards, this time sliding Hinata's sweaty shirt along with him.

"Raise your arms." he commanded gently, and Hinata obeyed without question. She was beginning to feel trapped inside of her clothes, and welcomed any form of relief from the heat.

From there it was simply a matter of slipping the now useless article over her head. But as he brought it up near her wrists, the Roman leader had an idea. He tied the shirt around them, forming a knot with the sleeves, and wrapping the rest against the rails of the headboard. Hinata noticed right away and Naruto held back a laugh at her wide-eyed expression.

"I told you," he answered while looking down at her bra covered chest. "I want to show you just how much it means to me that you've truly stayed loyal to me for so long. So please, lay there and just enjoy."

**oo0oo**

Beyond the outskirts of the Leaf, traveling through the trees were the Ichiraku's. But they weren't alone. Traveling beside them were Konohamaru Sarutobi and a third of the ANBU forces that were loyal to Tsunade; the rest having stayed behind to guard their Hokage. The two civilians were carried on the backs of two shinobi.

They walked in a layered diamond formation, with the two civilians and Konohamaru kept in the center. Konohamaru walked a little ahead of the ramen chefs, his head bowed low so the night would conceal his pain-filled eyes. Hanabi had refused.

When he asked her to leave the youngest heiress to the Hyuga clan said no. Said that she couldn't take the risk of her father catching up to them; she didn't want to see the Sarutobi heir get hurt.

Her reasons helped balm the wound caused by her refusal but they did not heal it. She had been Konohamaru's only friend in the whole village...and now they were forcefully being torn apart. It pained the brunette greatly to hear Hanabi say no, but it got worse when he realized what that would mean. She would still be in the village during the attack.

After Otogakure fell the Imperator planned to pick away slowly at Konoha while dealing with the rest of the world. Hanabi would be forced to watch as the village crumbled around her until finally collapsing...it made the young teen's eyes well with tears. She was going to suffer, and all because of the Leaf's stubbornness.

Shaking his head to dispel those thoughts Konohamaru looked up, his eyes drawn to the full moon, and he let his imagination conjure the image the young heiress around the pearl of the night sky. _'No, I won't let that happen. I'll talk to big brother and plan a raid one the village. I __**will **__protect Hanabi from such torment.'_

**oo0oo**

Naruto stared at the soaked panties that lay before him. He'd finished with Hinata's breasts, making sure to leave his mark several times over, and had now made his way down to her core. After removing her pants the smell that had permeated the air hit him full force...never had he experienced anything like it. With her underwear soaked Naruto could make out the outlines of Hinata's folds. He lifted his hand had pressed two fingers against the center; he was rewarded as Hinata's entire body jolted.

As he began to massage his fingers up and down her slit Naruto moved his body up so he could capture the heaving kunoichi's lips. With her moans muffled beneath the kiss, Hinata began to lose herself in the heat of the moment. Her entire world began to spin, her hooded gaze became hazy, and the shapes and forms of the room around her began to blur together into a sea of colors.

"Aaah!" Hinata's pupil-less orbs snapped shut as she threw her head back, effectively ending their kiss. Naruto had moved passed her panties, and now had his index-finger buried knuckle deep inside of her. She felt him as he reached her barrier, felt as he pulled back and then began to massage the walls surrounding it.

Wanting to be careful, Naruto only added one other finger, and from there he slowly scissored the two digits inside of his lover's core. Watching Hinata's flushed bosom heave, and listening to her as she gasped and cried in pleasure the blonde wasn't surprised when he felt his manhood stiffen beneath his crimson tunic.

"N-Naruto-kun...-gasp-, please..I-I can't take anymore."

Naruto turned his attention away from her breasts, and made eye contact with the woman beneath him. Her hair was disheveled, splaying around her like a violet curtain, and her eyes were brimming with wanton desire as she sucked in deep breaths between her swollen lips. She was beautiful. "Are you ready then?"

All she could manage was a nod.

The Roman warrior reached beneath his tunic and pulled away his own underwear, flipping the hem up over his fully hardened piece. Naruto slid Hinata's panties down her thighs, giving him a clear view of her virgin lips. With one look in the horny kunoichi's direction Naruto got all the conformation he needed. Slowly, almost agonizingly so, the blonde pushed passed Hinata's sopping core and entered her.

Once inside, Naruto was amazed at the heat that surrounded his shaft. It was like a volcano. Unlike anything he'd experienced with the other girls. But he didn't let that delay him for long, and soon began to pus forward again, until meeting with the same wall of flesh as before. While Tayuya and Temari had taken him without so much as a grunt, Haruna was much more shy, and the battle-hardened warrior felt Hinata fell into that same category.

Taking over her lips in a soulful kiss Naruto gently pushed his way forward, the hands that held her hips feeling as she tensed under the intrusion. He sat there for a moment, letting Hinata get used to the feeling of being full, before pulling back and doing it again. As he unhinged himself from her lips Naruto was met with the Hyuga girl's moans of pleasure.

They were the music that lulled him to sleep after they were finished.

**oo0oo**

The sun peeked over the horizon on the morning Naruto was set to put his plan into action. The rays shone through the window of the embassy building, and into the room the blonde leader was staying in.

Laying in bed, wrapped in the stained silk sheets, Naruto spooned against the Hinata's smooth back. Unfortunately from his position the light of the new day easily beat against his eyelids. With a groan the blonde cracked his eyes open; ocean-blue, instead of cobalt, met the day.

He looked down at the curtain of hair that framed the back of the women he lay with. Naruto leaned down and placed a chaste kiss atop the crown of her head, before lifting himself onto his hand, and then rolling off the bed. His feet hitting the floor seemed to have been louder than he thought, because almost immediately after, a faint groan echoed through the room.

"Naruto-kun, why did you leave?"

The blonde looked over at the lump of flesh and sheets, sighed and answered, "Today isn't the day to be laying around love; I have work to do."

Hinata rolled over so that she was facing him and asked, "What would you like for me to do?"

Naruto thought about it for a moment. His eyes hardened in focus as he considered the best option before he replied, "I want you to start heading towards Shien; it's where I'll be meeting up with all those who I've poached from Konoha."

"You want me to leave your side? But then who will protect you?" the former heiress questioned. Her blonde love's response was a chuckle, before he reminded her that he still had his guard with him, and that included Tayuya. "But still..."

"You have nothing to fear Hinata, I will set the plan into motion and return to you as quickly as I am able. But for now we must part ways again; I'd rather not risk you being captured during the escape."

Hinata let her eyes drop and stare at the side of the bed Naruto once occupied, her head nodded in resignation of his plan. The Roman warrior voiced that he would take a shower first, and that after he left she would immediately take leave of the village.

Once he was dressed and in good order Naruto eyed himself in the mirror as Hinata placed his laurel wreath headpiece around his blonde locks. "There," she whispered gently, "now it's perfect." After sharing one last kiss, Hinata watched the powerful man exit the room alongside Tayuya. Once she was alone the young woman sighed to herself before deciding it was time to go.

Giving one last look out the window and at the village below Hinata turned away and she too exited the room.

**oo0oo**

Naruto met up with his guard outside the village embassy. Each of his Centurion looked well rested and ready; just what he liked to see. Turning to Tayuya he asked, "Has our friend been prepared?"

"As instructed Imperator."

His face broke into a wolfish grin, ocean-blue eyes darkening to a cold cobalt. "Then we but await divinity of the moment." And with a stern nod he and his guard began to move towards the Hokage meeting hall.

The walk was filled with confused looks, though Naruto could make out a few angry ones too. It seems Danzo had gotten a head start on his little campaign against him. That was more than alright with the blonde though; it just meant everything would be over sooner.

Once they arrived Naruto and his guard were greeted by a pair of ANBU. When asked to leave his guard outside the Roman leader simply replied, "And since when does a foreign dignitary let himself get separated from his security while in the presence of strangers?"

The masked shinobi had nothing to say to that, as telling him it was ordered by Councilman Danzo would only tip the suspicion further against them. So, begrudgingly, they let him pass.

"Did that old fool really believe that his pathetic little attempt would work?" Tayuya questioned as they moved through the halls.

Naruto didn't look at her as he replied, "He must have other assassin's waiting in the halls, concealed in the shadows. My guess is those two he sent last night were supposed to report in; and when they didn't he panicked."

"So what do you think his next play will be, once the meeting starts?" the red-head whispered, making sure to keep their ANBU guide from hearing her.

"I suspect he'll attempt to play the homage card; saying I owe the village for housing me as a boy. And when that fails, I have little doubt the old war hawk will try to bully me with scare tactics. It's sad really. Danzo isn't anywhere near as smart as he'd like to think he is."

By this time they'd arrived at the doors to the meeting hall. Naruto motioned for his Centurion to stay put, and walked through the opening doors with Tayuya by his side.

As he entered the blonde's eyes immediately locked with Tsunade's. The two stared at one another for only a brief moment, but in that time, an entire discussion took place; one the female Hokage nodded in agreement to. From there Naruto's cobalt-blue eyes scanned the room, taking in the other prominent figures that surrounded him in a circle. Each of the clan leaders were present, and the three members of the Hokage's advisory council sat beneath her.

The seats were done in the customary circle, with the Hokage's seat at the head. But that place was raised high, and slightly towered over the other members of the governing body. Beneath this podium, and set obviously apart from the rest of the circle, were the seats of the Councilmen.

Naruto eyed the three of _them_ with particular disgust.

"Well now, doesn't this just bring back memories." the robed blonde muttered to himself. "But this is no time for such things; we have work to do."

At his insistence to start the meeting Homura, one of the elders, replied. "Yes but, do you truly feel it necessary to have this woman here with you? What harm could possibly befall you in here?"

"The thing about that Councilman Homura is; I'd rather not find out. So, with all due respect, I'll have to insist that Tayuya stay." was Naruto's response. It got a rise out of Danzo.

"Can we really trust a woman who we know has been affiliated with Orochimaru; how do we know she has not poisoned your mind boy?"

Naruto let the 'boy' comment slide as he motioned to the red-haired woman beside him. "Tayuya has been nothing but faithful to me since the day I rescued her from death. Not once has she attempted to return to Orochimaru, nor convince me to join with him. She is one of my most trusted legionnaire."

Tsunade took this time to step in, "Very well, if you're sure, then we'll get right down to business. We of the Hidden Leaf wish to formally request an alliance with your organization known as The Eagle."

"If we're going to be talking alliances, I suppose it's only right that I inform you that we are in the process of dropping that alias and are about to begin flying under our true banner."

"And what would that be?" questioned Choza Akimichi

Naruto smirked. His grin made the hairs on every clan head's neck stand on edge as he spoke a single word. To many of them it held no meaning, their clans never having any connection to the mighty empire, but to others it stopped their hearts; the very breath catching in their throats.

"Rome."

**oo0oo**

Hinata hopped through the trees, careful of her sore body, and making sure her _Byakugan _stayed active to watch out for possible threats as she moved further and further away from Konoha. She hadn't been running for long, ten minutes at the most, but her mind couldn't stop worrying about the blonde Roman and the possibility of his plan failing.

_'What if his guard isn't enough to protect him, or Tayuya is incapacitated while they try to escape? Naruto-kun may be powerful but I doubt even he could take on the entire village alone.'_ Hinata stopped along the next branch she touched down on. She debated turning around and going back, being there in case her love needed her.

But that would be direct defiance. Something Naruto, no matter how much he cared for her, would be able to tolerate in front of his soldiers. He was the leader, the Emperor, and to go against a clear command would be unforgivable. With that in mind, Hinata let out a sad sigh and turned her back to the village again; this time she didn't look back.

It would be another thirty minutes before she made it to the town of Shien, and once she arrived, it swiftly became apparent that this was a place that had been shown the gracious hand of Naruto's empire. While still a part of Leaf territory, Shien would more than likely be quick to cut ties once the blonde's plan was put into action. Hinata could see poles set up a few yards from each other, all carrying wires throughout the town; something Shien didn't have before.

The town had been just as it's position said; and outpost. A place for ninja who were performing boarder patrol to stop and rest from time to time. It had small shops and an inn, all family owned, and was a relatively small place compared to many of the other places in Fire Country. But now, now Shien was beginning to look like a place where people would _want _to visit.

Besides the electricity, Shien's streets had been paved over. No longer were they dirt roads, now they were made from segmented concrete. And Hinata could see on the corners that there were drainage junctures for the rain water to flow into. The buildings weren't anything special yet but Hinata saw the looks on the residence faces and it lifted her spirits. These people were happy.

Naruto's dream was coming true.

Then a rough, unwelcome voice passed through her ears. "Hinata-san...what are _you _doing here?"

The former Leaf kunoichi turned, lavender meeting onyx-black, and replied. "The question is, what are _you _doing here...Sasuke Uchiha."

**oo0oo**

_**A/N: And there's the next chapter. It was my first time doing a lemon; why do they call it that anyway? So I don't know how well I did, but I had thought about placing it in the chapter that came before, and then I thought 'nah, that's too easy'. **_

_**Anyway, not much I can think of to say about this one sooo review and PM me if you have anything to say.**_


	17. Forecast for the future

_**Forecast for the future:**_

_**First things first, I wanna thank you guys for getting my first story to 1,000 followers. I Honestly never expected it to get that popular; the fact that it was Favorited 800 times was beyond my expectations too. So it's really exciting to know that I managed to reach those marks on my very first try.**_

_**Now to see if I can do it again 0.0**_

**_Anyways, the reason I'm putting this up is because I want to lay out how the near future is going to play out. I'm shifting all my focus onto the other four stories on my profile for a while. I decided to do this when I saw that Rise had 16 chapters, with over 100,000 words, and the others are still in the single digits chapter-wise with about 30,000 words each. Part of me feels I'm being unfair._**

**_If you've read my page I explain that I don't abandon anything. I know, people say that a lot, but this isn't going to be one of those times. Because I explain, or at least I think I did lol, that I always have an idea of how the next chapter of a story will be laid out. I always have a beginning, middle, and end so I always have a 'road map' of what's going to happen. I think the reason people give up is just because they don't think the entire story through enough before they begin; they don't have an outline._**

**_But, back to what I was saying before, I think I left off at a pretty good wait point with Rise to where I've left you guys with enough to think about while you wait. So, my other works will be given optimal attention for the time being. Lol also, I've pretty much worked on Rise alone since I've started posting, and it'd be great to gain a little more recognition for more than just one story =P_**

**_So there it is. Not the update you were hoping for, but an explanation of what to expect. But don't worry, Naruto WILL unite the Elemental Nations under the Roman banner, I guarantee that =D_**


	18. Set Motus in Rotis

Rise, Son of Rome

_**Ch.17- Set Motus in Rotis**_

_**(Wheels set in motion)**_

**oo0oo**

Rome. Just the name alone was enough to send shivers down several of the Council members' spines, and even for those that didn't know of the ancient super-power they could still feel the goosebumps raise on their arms from the way the blonde man in front of them spoke of it.

And yet, as awe inspiring as it all was, there was still one man who dared to stare the monster in the face; Danzo.

"So you're attempting to copy some long forgotten super-power, and use its ghost as a way to either frighten or brainwash people into following you? How very juvenile."

Hearing the elderly man's condescending tone grated on not only Naruto's nerves, but those of Tayuya' as well, although for separate reasons. The problem was, they couldn't afford to show that it affected them in any way or else it would only prove the crippled war-hawk right.

So instead, they went for a deflection.

"And yet you are attempting to align yourselves with me," the descendant of Caesar responded, "so what does that say about all of you?

The reply came this time from the mouth of Hiashi Hyuga. The statuesque man stood tall as he addressed the blonde down below him, "The village of Konoha has, like any village is capable of doing, fallen on hard times due to a number of unforeseen setbacks. We seek only a temporary alliance with you, so as to help us back onto our feet, and then after that there will be no more reason for our two powers to communicate."

Naruto had to hold back a smug smirk at hearing of their 'setbacks', and instead chose to calmly reply, "Ah, yes, I remember hearing something about a number of your contracts pulling out. It was something about...unjust prejudice, and unfair treatment based on personal grudges, if I'm not mistaken? Yes, truly a shame if you ask me."

"Well then it's a good thing that's not what we're to question you about isn't it?" This retort came from the elder known as Koharu, Naruto could tell even with her eyes squinted that the old crow was giving him a disgruntled look.

The blonde Roman nodded silently in agreement before questioning, "You're right, it's not, so why don't we simply cleave to the heart of the matter and discuss the terms of this alliance you all are asking for."

He may be willing to be civil, but that didn't mean the Imperator wasn't going to take silent shots at their pride.

From there it was a fairly cordial affair. Questions were asked, answers given, and numbers were crunched as both sides attempted to come out of the discussion with more gain than they were giving up. This worked well until Danzo decided to stick his nose in where it didn't belong; Naruto's military forces.

"I propose you leave a number of your soldiers here with us, not necessarily as a defensive maneuver, but an added benefit. Just think, if they were to begin teaching Konoha's ninja how to fight as effectively as them, then-"

"No." Naruto cut the man off before he even had a chance to finish his thought. "This is a _temporary _alliance Councilman Danzo, nothing more, and so I see no reason to share my tactics or military make up with you. The process of creating a legionnaire is a secret, and is only shared among fellow Romans...something this room is in severe lack of at the moment."

Here Shikaku raised his hand and said, "Actually, Naruto, my family hales from an ancient Roman house that you yourself might know of; the House of Crassus."

Naruto feigned shock at this bit of news, his eyes widening while his brow even rose to really sell it. "Is that so? Well I suppose it shouldn't come as any surprise, considering the great intelligence your family is known for matches that of your revered ancestor."

"Ah so you see, young Uzumaki, your people have taken root here in Konoha. Now don't you think this is a sign; one that speaks of how powerful the village is if it can draw the descendants of such a genius Roman?"

Blue eyes swerved from Shikaku over to Danzo, the elderly Councilman had been the one to speak again, and Naruto didn't like the air that surrounded the old war-hawk. It was..._slimy_.

_'Time to start pulling the plug on this farce,' _the descendant of Caesar thought as he eyed Danzo.

"To be honest Danzo, that very well could be a sign...if this was the Leaf that Hashirama built hundreds of years ago. But if you mean to say that the village I stand in now still shines as bright, then I have to say you are sorely mistaken."

At this shot at the village Naruto could see the three elders stiffen in anger, and while both Danzo and Homura managed to keep their peace, Koharu couldn't stop herself from rising to defend the honor of her home. "How dare you, this village has remained everything the Shodai dreamed it would be, and for you to even suggest that we have forgotten his ambition is unacceptable."

_'And that's the game.' _Naruto smirked internally smirked as his eyes turned sharp. The blonde warrior folded his hands behind his back and, with his poker-face in place, began to speak.

"You say that the village of Konoha has kept up the pillars that made it great during its founding, but I must disagree, as I don't recall the Shodai ever authorizing the assassination of a foreign dignitary that _he_ invitedfor a treaty talk."

"Now that's a hefty claim young Caesar," Choza chimed in. He'd sat and watched the battle between the blonde and the elders since it began, and the red-head could already see where this was going. In his mind the Akimichi clan leader was saddened at what was happening to his village, how far they were falling, and could only hope that there was a way to save it. But for now, "Do you have any proof that there was an attempt on your life?"

Had he not spent the past three years working to create the perfect image of 'Caesar', Naruto knew he'd be grinning like the devil. But he _had_, so it was just a part of the game for him as he replied to the large man's question. Turning towards Tayuya, the blonde gave the order.

"Show them."

Tayuya gave a firm nod as she walked over towards the shaded window. She pulled apart the red curtain...and revealed a bloodied pair of bodies hung up by a series of ropes. It was the dead Sai and his fellow ROOT operative, they hung from the faces of Konoha's Kage monument, and were on display for all the village to see.

Turning his attention back towards Choza, Naruto said, "I believe these young men were members of your ANBU unit if I'm not mistaken."

Here is where Tsunade began to play her part in the plan. "Actually, Naruto, I've personally seen the files for every ANBU under my command and these two faces have never crossed my desk."

"If that's true Lady Tsunade then how can we believe this boy's accusation," Hiashi spoke up. The Hyuga leader couldn't afford to have his village take anymore moral hits, and if these shinobi were shown to be from Konoha, and the news got out that they attempted to murder Naruto, then Hiashi feared the possibility of a village-wide collapse. "How do we know these men aren't from another village?"

"There was a symbol printed across the forehead of these two young men's masks, if you don't mind, would it be alright for me to show you it? Maybe you've seen in Lady Tsunade." Naruto offered. When the buxom blonde accepted, he walked over towards her and was handed a piece of paper and a pen. Drawing the symbol took only a minute, and once he finished, Caesar's descendant revealed the image to everyone in the room.

For most of them it didn't mean anything, but for Danzo and Tsunade it spelled the beginning of the end. It was the symbol for ROOT.

_**xXx**_

While Naruto began to pull the rug out from under Konoha and begin his slow deconstruction of the village, Hinata stared into the eyes of the last person she expected to see outside the walls of the Leaf.

Sasuke Uchiha.

But he looked far different from the former rogue she remembered. Gone were the shinobi style clothes he'd worn the last time Hinata saw him, and in their place was something frighteningly reminiscent of her blonde love's uniform.

He wore layered leather armor, black in color, across his torso with another layer acting as cover for his waist. Most of Sasuke's arms and legs were bare minus the guards he wore for his forearms and shins. His head was covered by a helmet similar to Naruto's, but it too was black, and where the blonde's had red horse hair Sasuke's matched the helmet. The Uchiha's helmet design was also smoother than Naruto's.

Around his waist Hinata saw Sasuke had a sword belt, which held a blade the same length, but more curved than Naruto's gladius. The Uchiha also held a shield in his left hand; it was circular, with crescent-shaped curves along the top and bottom. **(Think Achilles from Troy)**

And yet despite this change of clothes Hinata could still see the same onyx-black eyes that looked upon her the night they did battle. Images flashed through the woman's mind as she eyed the man that stood before her, ghostly feelings of pain ached throughout her body as she thought back to that night, but Hinata ultimately shook those thoughts away and repeated, "I said: 'what are you doing here Sasuke-san?'"

The answer was nothing what the former Hyuga expected. "I'm here to see Naruto; I've decided to join him."

Lavender eyes narrowed dangerously, "What sort of deformity do you suffer from, that lets you believe he would even consider trusting you again after all that happened?"

"Because I have information he needs to hear," was Sasuke's rebuttal. "Especially if he wants to make this dream of reviving his ancestors empire."

"And what could you possibly have for the Imperator that would aid him in his quest," Shikamaru's voice called out as he strode over to the two former Leaf shinobi.

"I'd rather not have to tell the same story twice, so I'll just wait until Naruto gets here," Sasuke replied. He was beginning to feel annoyed at how they two were ganging up on him; couldn't they see that he was serious?

Then Shikamaru noticed the new comers state of dress, and decided to question Sasuke about it. The Uchiha's answer interested him greatly. "It belonged to _my _ancestors; the Greeks. Naruto descends from Caesar, but I come from Furor, a warrior stricken from history for his horrendous deeds but also the sole son of Pluto and Mania."

Shikamaru kept his gaze stern as he eyed the raven-haired man before him. While it was true the Roman's deities hailed from Greek mythology, the Nara understood that even supernatural beings weren't merely one-sided. They had depth, and layers to their personalities which were expressed through the re-telling of their stories. This made Shikamaru more inclined to believe Sasuke's story, but there was still one thing that bothered him. "If this Furor was essentially erased, then how do we know you're telling the truth; how can you prove he existed?"

"For that we'll need to return to Wave," Sasuke replied, "because it's only there that Naruto will be able to speak with his patrons. Like how I spoke with mine in Konoha."

The Nara heir arched an eyebrow at that, "You spoke to the gods?"

Sasuke nodded in confirmation, "As difficult as it may be to believe, yes, I spoke with both Pluto as well as Mania...and they are the one's who relayed the warning I have for Naruto."

"But why are your ancestral patrons able to reach you in the Leaf, and Naruto's aren't," questioned Hinata. She was still suspicious of the Uchiha's true motives, and was in no mood to play games with him. Sasuke would either tell the truth, or be gutted where he stood for attempting to stab Naruto in the back again.

"Because that's where their presence can be felt the strongest; the Uchiha clan raised shrines to their patrons during the first hundred years of Konoha's founding, and made regular prayers and offerings to them before the Second Hokage gated them into that cramped district."

"He did that because of the darkness left behind by Madara, your clan's founder," Shikamaru corrected.

But Sasuke just brushed it off. That was the past, and if he really wanted to reclaim his clan's lost honor then Sasuke knew he'd have to do it under Naruto's command. So, instead of arguing, Sasuke simply sighed and continued speaking. "My point is, after they were corralled the Uchiha clan felt that the gods had forsaken them, and they embraced the ideology that _they _were the pinnacle of strength and power; they let their pride blind them, and their lust for even greater power drive them to their own destruction."

"Which explains the connection to Mania," concluded Hinata. "But that still doesn't explain why you now seek to align yourself with Naruto."

Seeing that he had no way of avoiding it, and that trying any further may result in violence, Sasuke resign himself to explain. Turning towards Shikamaru he asked, "What do you know of Luna?"

"She's the moon goddess, and watcher of the night, why?"

"Because she is what I need to speak with Naruto about; Luna plans to eradicate the human race."

_**xXx**_

Back with Naruto, the budding Roman emperor was busy taking in the reactions to his little art show. And while the rest of the room didn't see it, he silently enjoyed the way Danzo's fingers _barely _tightened around the handle of his cane once his squinted eye landed on the page that Naruto held up.

"Does this look familiar to any of you," he questioned while walking around the room. "Because up until last night, I can't say that either myself or my guard has."

Tsunade acted as if she had to think about it before saying that, she _had _seen a symbol like the one he'd drawn, it was in a file handed down by Sarutobi from his time in office. "He called it ROOT, and said that it was an off the books unit, privately funded...that answered to Danzo."

The Councilman now in question remained poised and composed as he defended himself. He informed the room that, yes, ROOT belonged to him in the sense that he had many enemies and needed a security force to help prevent any assassination attempts. "But why they would attack you in the middle of the night, I can only assume that being new to the program they snapped and lost their sense of morality."

"If the training to become the personal bodyguard of a dried up old fossil like you is so strenuous, why would anyone _willingly _choose to undergo it," Questioned the ever tactful Tayuya.

Danzo chose to ignore the shot at his current condition and instead answered the red-haired woman's question. "They choose it young lady because of their reverence of me, and my legacy from when I was an active duty shinobi."

"But that doesn't explain why their files aren't on record Shimura-san," goaded Naruto. "Why has no one in this room, other than you and the Hokage, ever heard of this division before?"

"Because, as the Hokage already pointed out, they are privately funded. This means that I pay for them out of my own pocket to guard me, and having them in the shinobi files would make them eligible for missions _outside _the village where they could very well die, which would lower my security. I pay these men and women to protect me, young Uzumaki, not to go out and save diplomats daughters or broker trade agreements."

The young Roman nodded in what seemed understanding, and then he asked, "So just how many men and women do you have on this staff of security Danzo? Surely it couldn't be more than a handful, right, because any more than that and you'd be robbing Konoha of valuable resources."

But the mummified elder wasn't in the mood for anymore questions. He stood from his seat and barked out, "I find it odd that we've gotten off the subject Uzumaki; the prospect of you allying with the Leaf. As I've already stated, those two young men were obviously unfit to handle the harsh level of training required to be a part of my security staff, and their attack on you was something I never ordered. Now can we please return to the negotiations, because I'm sure by now the entire village is in an upheaval about two dead bodies hanging from our Hokage's faces, and would like to be calmed down sometime soon with news that it was a ghastly mistake."

As if to emphasize Danzo's point, outside the meeting hall everyone could hear the sound of a mob crowding around the building in a frenzy. However what they heard shocked all, even Danzo, except for Naruto and those in on his plan.

They were crying for Naruto's blood.

"Why do they think Naruto had anything to do with what they saw," questioned Shikaku, "And what makes them believe he's even in the village? As far as I know there's been no word about just _who _the leader of Eagle was, so how could they know it's him?"

Questions similar to this buzzed around the room, but anyone who looked in Dano's direction could tell that he was not happy about this new development. _'They weren't supposed to act this early, their ahead of schedule! It was meant to look like a slow realization, and then a demand for compensation for the emotional distress caused by his return to the Leaf. Damn it all, this is why you never ask a civilian to do the work of a shinobi!'_

But the cat was already out of the bag, so the old war-hawk had only one option; roll with it.

Still standing, the one-eyed Councilman spoke up over both the buzzing of questions and the riot outside. "As you can see, the people of the village are very upset about what you've just done. I believe this more than calls for a formal apology, as well as, the agreement to aid Konoha financially."

"Actually," Naruto countered, "I think if anything it means I've overstayed my welcome here and need to go."

With that the blonde warrior began to make his exit, Tayuya following faithfully behind, and despite the calls from certain members of the Council the two of them walked out the door.

Once they were outside Tayuya eyed her Imperator with a worried look; one that Naruto noticed immediately. The Roman looked to the head of his guard and asked what was wrong. When she told him, it was a response the blonde never expected.

"You're worried? Why, this is all part of the plan?"

"Just because I'm tough doesn't mean I don't care, ya know? We've been through a lot and...I don't think I could forgive myself if anything happened to you on my watch."

Naruto's response was to place one of his large, calloused hands on the red-head's shoulder and telling her that everything would be fine. "I've come this far, there's no way I'll be stopped now."

_'I can only hope,' _Tayuya thought as the doors leading to the angry mob came into view.

_**xXx**_

_**A/N: And there's the next chapter to Rise. Now it's probably not what you all were expecting, considering the long wait, but I noticed it's officially been a whole year since I've started this story and I wanted to give you guys something for the long wait.**_


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